


Falling into your ocean eyes

by Linsupremacy



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Kya is a hugger, Smut, kyalin - Freeform, lin needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 03:08:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29727426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linsupremacy/pseuds/Linsupremacy
Summary: Kuvira's gone, but there are other problems in Republic City. Turf wars force Lin Beifong to realize that just her devotion for the woman she loves may not be enough to keep her safe.
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Kya II
Comments: 21
Kudos: 96





	1. Nothing else in the world

**Author's Note:**

> So I couldn't stop thinking about how Kyalin are a complex couple and have many layers to explore.
> 
> I couldn't sleep and this became a thing.
> 
> The title comes from “Ocean Eyes” By Billie Eilish.
> 
> And I should warn you this one is during Turf Wars so if you didn’t read the comic it will have plenty of spoilers.

Lin rubbed the back of her neck while allowing her mouth to open for a particularly large yawn to come out. She hadn't slept well.

The first rays of sunlight ignored the dark green fabric drapes and were advancing across the dark kitchen floor. The sounds of construction in the distance were already noticeable. Lin still had no idea why, but the apartment building where she lived was one of the few with almost no damage during Kuvira's attack. They were rebuilding the reception where some stones fell, but other than that there were no major problems.

Of course, the apartment is the last thing on Lin's mind. She stretches out her arms and feels that stab of pain in her lower spine from not sleeping properly. She was no longer 15 years old, she could not stay up all night believing that there would be no consequences the next day.

She sighs and walks over to the kitchen counter, her bare feet enjoying the contact with the tiled floor. The breakfast preparation process is methodical. Lin was always a woman who did things the way they were supposed to be done. She puts the water on to boil and then looks for ingredients to make pancakes. She preferred to eat something with a little more protein in the morning, but her girlfriend was a 10-year-old child.

Her girlfriend. Lin can't stop her heart from racing a little every time she thinks of Kya as her girlfriend. After so long. She was an adult woman, but she couldn't help feeling like a silly teenager every time Kya smiled at her. Or when she touched her arm. Or when she held her hand. Or when she makes her come hard with that same hand. Kya made her feel good in a way that no one ever did, not that the earthbender would admit it anytime soon.

She was almost done making breakfast when she felt vibrations on the floor. Kya had just woken up.

She felt it when she went to the bathroom, followed her steps into the kitchen and noticed that they became much quieter as she approached. Someone was trying to play a trick on her.

"You know I can feel you, right?" Kya whimpered before crossing her arms under her chest. Lin felt the tip of a smile on her mouth.

"You, Beifongs and those magical feet." The earthbender removed the last pancake from the pan and turned to find Kya already dressed for the day.

"You don't even come close to your dad's ‘twinkle toes’." Or any of the airbenders. Tenzin really managed to scare her sometimes with his dancing feet, just like his father.

"Do you remember when your mom called Tenzin ‘twinkle toes Jr.’?" Kya is laughing now when she leans against the counter to look directly into Lin's eyes.

"Mom has a way with nicknames." Kya turned to the pancakes perfectly placed on a large plate and pinched one of them before bringing her fingers to her mouth. "Table, Kya. Table." The waterbender smiled at Lin's stiffness about even eating in the kitchen.

"Good morning to you too, grumpy." She leaned over to put a kiss on Lin's cheek, Kya's lips were always so warm, and they looked even softer in the morning.

"Good morning, Kya." She replies with a small twitch on her lips, enough for Kya to smile from ear to ear. Lin's heart is beating a little faster, with a damn smile. Spirits, I really got soft. She thinks as she takes two plates from the top shelf and holds it out to Kya.

They sit at the polished mahogany table in the dining room. Another room with huge windows, dark green drapes and brownish carpet. However, this was already one of the areas contaminated by Kya who had already placed a tapestry from the water tribe next to one of the most expensive paintings in the apartment. Lin didn't like how the blue broke the pattern of the entire space at first, but each day she ate breakfast without Kya at the dinner table, she felt like she was there.

She ended up learning to like the tapestry.

Kya is reading a parchment on spiritual healing while she drinks her tea. There were those who were hit by radiation from Kuvira's weapon and needed help. Lin is reading the daily paper, drinking coffee, probably too strong, for her to keep up with the pace throughout the day.

"Are you going to stay in the city today?" Lin asked with the coffee mug against her lips. Kya looked up from her parchment to meet Lin's.

"Why? Is my unpleasant company driving you out of your mind already?" Lin rolled her eyes as the waterbender chuckled.

"If you are going to stay I will pass my shift to Mako." Kya tried to stop herself from smiling, but failed. It was such a simple thing, but just knowing that Lin switched her shifts, so she could be with her. It made her heart warm and the stupid smile remained on her face like a tattoo.

"The refugee center received a few more injuries yesterday, so I think they will need reinforcement." Lin nodded, her eyes turning to the newspaper. "It's terrifying to think about what that girl did to this city." Kya's eyes go to the clock, they should go soon if Lin doesn't want to be late.

"Don't even tell me. I don't know what to do first. There is this portal in the middle of the city, the gangs are killing themselves to conquer new territories and now this boy, Tokuga." Lin takes a deep breath and Kya can feel the stress come out of her in waves. She extends her hand and takes the earthbender's fingers between hers, her skin a perfect contrast to Kya's. Lin's aura relaxes a little and Kya smiles.

"You are Chief Beifong. There is nothing that you cannot handle." The police chief smiles with the corners of her lips. Kya had that kind of effect on her, knowing what words to say to make that pain behind her head seem less. She was a great healer, but her skills went beyond what she could do with her hands. "And we should go. Your shift starts in half an hour." Lin looks at the wall clock and stands up the next second.

"I'll give you a ride to the center." Kya also stood up, rolling up her parchment.

"Are we going by airship?" Lin inclined her head to Kya's childish tone as she walked into the bedroom to get her uniform.

"In my satomobile, Kya." She heard the disappointed sound that came from the waterbender, now standing in the doorway. Kya had a particular pleasure in seeing Lin put on her uniform and whenever she could watch she would watch.

Lin reached out and felt the vibration of the metal leaving the wardrobe to connect to her skin, wrapping her torso, legs and then her feet. It was always strange not to be able to feel the soil anymore, but at least those boots she could bend.

"It never gets boring." The police chief shook her head. She approached Kya again, circling the bed and the waterbender's pupils seemed a little dilated.

Lin has a smirk on her lips when she bends over enough to find her face just inches from Kya's.

"Just like eating you." The waterbender opens and closes her mouth again. She can feel the heat start to rise all over her face, resting on her core, with just a few words from Lin. Impossible woman.

She knows what she just did and crosses her arms behind her back before starting to walk out of the room.

"You can't say things like that and leave as if nothing has happened." Kya shouts after her, coming out of the momentary paralysis she had been, to run after the earthbender.

"Watch me." The waterbender held her lower lip between her teeth before reaching the other woman and pulling on her arm, now covered in uniform. Kya's grip is firm, and she pushes Lin against the hallway wall by the shoulders.

Lin's eyebrows lift up on her face as she watches Kya hover over her. She inhales her perfume and it awakens something in her, something that would allow Kya to fuck her against a wall if they weren't almost late.

Kya can feel the change in her, the desire that shines in those green eyes. She leans in a little more, her hot breath meeting Lin's cheek as her hands rise gently to touch her neck, the tips of her fingers touching lightly the pulse points.

"Do not tease me." Lin snarled. Kya just popped her tongue, squeezing one of her jugular veins with her thumb.

"Watch me." She whispered and then leaned over to take her lips. Kya's lips were sweet, but the way they slid over hers was far from smooth. The earthbender's hands immediately wrapped around the other woman's waist, pulling her as close as possible. Kya slid her tongue into her mouth and Lin felt her knees buckle a little while a pathetic murmur sounded between their mouths. Kya's taste. That was what always made Lin lose her perfect self-control. She tightens her fingers around her waist, pulling her so that their bodies are completely together. There are many layers of clothing and metal, but Lin can feel the warmth of her skin. She sighs before moving her hands down to squeeze her thighs, climbing up to find the softness of her butt.

A shiver ran its way down Kya's spine, and she smiled before pulling Lin's lower lip between her teeth and then pulling away. Lin's arms resisted a little but the waterbender forced her to separate their bodies. The police chief's face has red cheeks and stained lips now. She's in need and she looks perfect.

"Come on, chief. You have a city to look after." She gives Lin a wink that is still stunned enough not to answer.

It's Kya who leads the way now, swinging her hips, knowing perfectly well that Lin's eyes are locked on her ass.

Lin rubbed the back of her neck for the second time that day, her core throbbing. Now she had another pain besides the spine. Fuck, Kya.

Lin forced her eyes once more on the map she was trying to analyze. The Triple had taken over another territory from the Creeping Crystals and two more from Red Moonson. She didn't like the way things were going. It was very bad to have so many gangs in that city, but even more terrifying was the thought of a single gang controlling the whole organized crime, they would be too powerful and with this new boy ... Lin knew most criminals but this boy was a complete unknown. No one had any idea what he wanted. Was it power? Cash? Fame?

The police chief dropped her body on the desk. Why couldn't Repubic City have a peaceful day?

"CHIEF!" Lin almost fell off her chair directly to the floor. She opened her eyes wide while choking on her air. Jinora.

More specifically, Jinora's spirit shining in blue was flying in front of her.

"Kid, you can't do these things." Lin massaged her temples, feeling her head throbbing.

"Sorry, chief, but we need help. A band of the Triple Threat has appeared on the portal. They are attacking us." The adrenaline began to run fast through the police chief's veins as she jumped in place.

"Korra, Mako and Bolin are on the air temple island. Go get them, we are going to need everyone we can bring." Jinora nodded and then disappeared across the floor.

Lin immediately set off the alarm in the temporary department of the police. She needed to get her policemen together. They would nip the problem in the bud.

Lin has been the police chief of Repulic City for years, she has had her share of strange battles. But battle with spirits, that was another level.

She, the airbenders and the cops were holding the Triple Threat, but they weren't going to last long. She could feel the roots at her feet trembling, the spirits were not happy with humans making a mess at the door of their kingdom. Lin dodged a dagger thrown by a boy and started looking for the one she was supposed to drop. Tokuga.

He was nowhere, which was strange. He was there in each of the attacks against the other gangs.

The roar of a huge animal sounded over their heads. Lin didn't take her eyes off the battle because she knew it was a flying bison, but the criminals did. It was the chance that everyone needed to advance against them, the metal wires curling around their bodies as stones flew over their heads.

"Hey, chief." Korra, Mako and Bolin landed beside her. The last with a glider in her hands and a smug known smirk. "Need help?" She used a whirlwind to ward off one of the criminals who was getting too close with a curved sword.

"It's good to see you again, kid." Korra smiled but before she could answer Lin felt the presence of another body, the characteristics matched. "Follow me." None of them hesitated at her command, which brought some pride to Lin's chest as they advanced through the whole fight.

Mako was the first to arrive in Tokuga. He was standing at the edge of the portal area, a smile on his thin lips, as if he had already won it. Mako stepped forward and the boy knocked him to the ground with a quick hit.

More sounds of strange creatures came from behind them. Lin turned and cursed. The spirits were leaving through the portal to protect it. A lot of them.

"I will stop this before it becomes a carnage." Korra opened the glider and flew towards the portal again. She wanted to help the girl, but there wasn't much that the chief of police could do against spirits, this is work for the avatar.

Lin kept moving forward. Bolin had just cut Tokuga's swords with lavabending, she was preparing the metal wires to wrap around his legs and arms. It would end there and now.

But Tokuga wouldn't be caught so easily. He was smiling at Lin when he dropped two cans of smoke grenade. Bolin coughed. She pushed the boy away with her arm before moving forward with her mouth covered. He wasn't going to escape this time. She wouldn't let him get away this time.

She couldn't.

Her lungs complained with the acidity of the smoke, but she managed to get out of the cloud and saw the boy running towards a truck. Not today. The metal wires came out of her hands and pinned the boy's feet. He cried out in indignation and Lin sighed. One less problem.

“Let me go, chief Beifong or I...” He was interrupted before Lin could shut his mouth.

"You wouldn't leave the spirit portal alone!" The voice froze Lin's spine, guttural and with such hatred. Just like Amon.

She held her own fingers to stop them from shaking.

She looked up just when a spirit passed over her head. It looked like a beaked eel and was purple. Purple and gold. This could not be good. "Now you will live with the consequences." The last word echoed throughout the area and raised all the hair on the back of Lin's neck. The fog of smoke was gone. The metal wires surrounding the boy unfolded tightly as the spirit passed through him, hitting Lin's uniform back hard enough to make her fall into the portal area. Her joints screamed when she hit the ground in the metal uniform.

Lin's eyes widened. She couldn't figure out what to think and even if she thought fast enough she wouldn't have stopped the two boys who caught Tokuga and stuffed him inside the truck.

That was ... More than weird. The spirit passed through Tokuga. What could this generate? Would the boy die?

"Hey, chief." Bolin slipped to extend a hand to her. The earthbender took the boy's hand to hoist herself.

"Are you okay?" She asked, squeezing Bolin's shoulder gently. The boy's eyes lit up and it was almost comical how he was moved by Lin's smallest gesture.

"I'm great, chief. Ready for the next one." Lin shook her head and searched the others with her eyes. It was then that she heard Bolin's sound of complete excitement. She looked at him who just pointed a few steps ahead where ... Asami and Korra were kissing.

Well ... that wasn't exactly unexpected. Who did these girls believe they were fooling? Apparently Bolin and Mako who looked completely surprised, as well as Jinora and Opal.

"Are you and Asami a couple?" Bolin had the most childlike smile in the world when they approached.

Korra tugged at the end of her hair nervously, her cheeks a little flushed. Lin just crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at the obviousness of the question.

"Yes, we are." It was Asami who responded and immediately everyone started bombarding them with a lot of information.

"This is soooo cute." Jinora said with her hands close to her chest and a truly soft smile.

"Are you ok with that Mako?" Korra asked and the police chief frowned. He should ask Tenzin for advice after that.

"You're both are dating each other now, it's cool, I'm cool." Very convincing. Lin thought.

"Opal and I want the first double date." Bolin said.

"No pressure, we're just happy for you both." Opal amended it and Asami's eyes fell on Lin with knowledge that made her a little uncomfortable.

"I think Kya and Lin are going to want the first double date." Lin let her best "Seriouslly?" look rests on her face while Korra smiled smugly.

"You are going to kill me before you drag me on a double date." All the children burst out laughing and Lin turned her face to smile a little. Bunch of idiots she decided to call family.

Lin opened the door to her apartment, feeling every muscle in her body complain and her lungs cry out for air every second. Those smoke grenades were really one thing.

She dragged her feet inside and immediately removed her uniform, hanging on the hook in the living room. She was in no mood to go to the bedroom and take it out. The chief of police crawled over to the sofa and let her body fall on the pillows. She closed her eyes, just inhaling and exhaling with difficulty. She had no idea what time it was, Kya must already be sleeping through the darkness throughout the apartment. Lin feels guilty sinking her stomach, she probably waited for hours. She sighs, audibly.

But then a slow smile started to rise over her mouth when she felt the vibrations on the floor. She was still with her eyes closed when she felt Kya's hands on her shoulders, soft and firm. She tried her best not to melt under that touch, but it was difficult considering her night.

"Do you want to explain to me why your lungs are slightly irritated and your muscles are so tense?" She feels Kya's mouth hover over her forehead before placing a delicate kiss on her skin. Lin sighs before covering her hands with hers.

"The Triple attacked the portal, the boys and Korra think they were sent by a powerful businessman from the city, the owner of the area. Not that we can prove it.” Nor were they entitled to investigate. She hoped the boys would hear her, it wasn't good to mess with people as powerful as Wonyong Keum. Lin also wonders when she started calling the boys "boys", as if she were their mother. Lin didn't really have children, she had Bolin and Mako. “I almost caught their leader." Kya purrs in agreement and the sound sends a soft chill through the back of the earthbender. “But a spirit passed through him and everything got so confused.” She can feel Kya's fingers hesitate on her shoulders.

"Do you mean that a spirit passed through the boy, literally through his body?" Lin frowned slightly.

"Yes, why?" Kya squeezed one of the knots on her shoulders and the earthbender sighed with the feeling of relief her fingers provided.

"There are ... There are some legends about this, but it has been so long since it happened. Spirits can change the composition of the human body." She can feel Kya's voice dropping an octave. "This boy could be significantly more dangerous now, Lin." Her fingers stop on her shoulders. Lin just shrugs. She has dealt with so many things, a half-spirit boy was one of the smallest things after Amon, Unalaq, Zaheer and Kuvira.

Lin joined the police to follow in Toph's footsteps, but she really liked the job. It was a way to help people kicking the bad guys' butts. She could see why her mother liked it and why she liked it too.

"Dealing with that sort of thing is my job, Kya. Don't worry." She squeezes Kya's fingers gently, a kind of quiet comfort.

"Have you eaten?" Lin opens her eyes again and her heart skips a beat when she meets Kya's. She's concerned, genuinely concerned, Lin can tell by the lines on her forehead and the way she tilts her head.

"I didn’t have time." Kya sighs heavily before removing her hands from Lin's shoulders. The emptiness she feels without her hands on her is terrifying. Terrifying enough for the police chief to be a little stunned.

"Get in the bath, so I can heal you and I'll prepare something for you to eat." Her voice sounds cold somehow. Lin doesn't want to feel it again. But what she feels is doubt. What did she do wrong? Was it something she said? She wants to touch her. She wants to ask why she looks so upset. But she doesn't. Lin gets up when she feels that Kya has gone to the kitchen, and she heads to the master bedroom suite, carrying her uniform.

Lin prepared the big black stone bathtub, using the lemon soap she liked, but which she rarely used. Her mother taught her to be practical and Lin was so practical at times that she irritated people. Was that what irritated Kya? Did she expect a hug? Words? Did she do anything?

Did she just do the wrong things?

Always?

If Lin were honest ... Kya was her first relationship. She didn't know what to expect. After so long by herself she had no dimension of how to really treat people.

She lifts her fingers and pulls the clips that hold her hair, letting the long strands fall down her back. She put one foot in the tub and then the other, sinking into the hot water with her knees to her chest. She didn't like bathtubs as much as she liked the shower. Someone could easily put a metal lid on it and slowly push it down until she drowns.

Lin had the bad habit of imagining how someone could kill her in different scenarios. Part of the job.

She sinks her face partially in the water, letting it fill her ears and give her the benefit of ignorance. She doesn't want to think.

This time she doesn't hear or feel Kya coming and it's her soft touch on her shoulder that takes her out of her own thoughts. Kya is smiling again and it seems to loosen a lump that had formed in Lin's throat.

"I made you some sandwiches." Lin didn't realize how hungry she was until the moment she saw the sandwiches Kya had made for her.

Why are her eyes suddenly watering? She really got soft.

"Thank you, Kya." The waterbender nodded as Lin wiped her hands on a towel to get one of the sandwiches. Kya moved her fingers and Lin watched as the water followed her every movement, slowly, glowing in soft blue. She had such beautiful, delicate hands, with long fingers and smooth curves. The earthbender closed her eyes in pleasure when her hands found her back, warm and delightful. She took a bite of the sandwich while Kya worked to heal her lungs, little by little the difficulty in breathing was gone.

Lin was already on the third sandwich when Kya started to heal her joints. She knew Katara was the best living healer, but like mother like daughter, she thought as the touches and the warm, sparkling water released every tension knot in Lin's body and soon she was feeling like a piece of potato in a soup, just taking advantage of the heat and the opportunity to be in a bathtub.  
When the water Kya was using to heal went back to the bathtub Lin opened her eyes. For a moment she just watched that woman. Her eyes have the color of the colder oceans of the south pole. Her white hair was still up and looked more silky than anything else. Her chocolate-colored skin, always so golden in the opaque bathroom light. She was wearing one of the blue robes she wore to sleep.

She looked perfect.

"Get in here with me." The earthbender saw herself whispering. Kya shook her head negatively, a humorous smile at the corner of her mouth.

"You are impossible, Beifong." When she speaks to her in that tone, as if scolding a young child, she takes Lin to all those years ago. How did she manage to stay away from Kya for so long? "Please?" She takes her hand that rests on the edge of the bathtub to place a kiss on her knuckles, her eyes never leaving hers. She knows that this is how she will always get to bend Kya.

The waterbender blew out a breath before rising from the edge of the tub. Lin closes her eyes to give her privacy to undress. Kya probably wouldn't mind if she looked, but Lin was a lady for the most stupid things possible. She liked surrealist paintings and not looking while a woman undressed. Because it wouldn't be polite to do that.

She opened her eyes again when the water rose with the weight of another body. Kya released her hair and removed the necklace that she kept around her neck. She looked like a nymph now, a lake spirit.

The waterbender extended her arms and Lin didn't hesitate for a second before approaching to lay her face on her chest, the other woman's arms closing around her like a cocoon. If Kya knew how much she healed her, not only physical pain with just her touch, the affection she gave without thinking about receiving.

"I have quite bombastic news for you." Lin looked up to meet hers, a small mocking smile on her mouth.

"Are you pregnant?" Kya laughed and it was great to hear her laugh for the first time that night. She nudged the sides of Lin's hips that just squirmed for a moment, the smile growing on her mouth as she ran her fingers down the waterbender's collarbone. "What's the news?" She moved her fingers up and down Lin's spine, having no idea how many shudders the earthbender had to hold.

"Asami and Korra are dating." Lin puts her hand over her mouth in false surprise and Kya narrows her eyes. "Did you already know? How?" Lin rested her chin on her shoulder so that she could speak directly against her ear.

"Well ... Maybe the fact that they kissed in the middle of everyone after the attack and insinuate that they’d call you and me for a double date wasn’t very subtle on their part." Lin doesn't miss the tremor that her voice causes in the other woman. 

A great ego massage.

She didn't care that Kya had told the girls. They had already told everyone they cared about at the wedding, with the exception of Toph, Katara, Asami and Korra. It was good that they knew, had the knowledge that if they needed to talk to someone, there was another homosexual couple in the family.

Family. It was interesting to think about how Lin's family brought together different benders.

"Damn it. I wanted to tell you, I thought it would be the highlight of your day." Lin actually smiled now at the first thing that crossed her mind. She lifted a wet hand and touched Kya's face, warm and soft, forcing her to look at her directly in the eyes.

"You are the highlight of my day, Kya." She couldn't express her feelings very well, it was a trait that ran in the Beifong blood. Just like bitterness.

But she was learning, she knew that Kya liked small gestures and small words. The way her eyes softened, as if it all came down to that moment. Kya had the great ability to make Lin feel overwhelmed while completely calm with the intensity of those eyes. She wanted to get lost on her, forever.

"Damn you, Lin Beifong." Lin tilted her head towards her, breathing in the scent of her skin, if she could ... She would spend the rest of her days there. She could spend a lifetime just looking into Kya's eyes, watching the gray streaks that spread across the blue, the small marks on her face, the way her hair fell out.

She had ocean eyes, deep and emotional, like the ocean itself. As if she can make an entire ocean fit inside her irises.

They were the most beautiful eyes Lin has ever seen.

The waterbender brushed her hair away from her face with one hand before stroking the scarred cheek. "Could you be so kind as to kiss me, Lin?" The police chief smiled before closing the distance between their mouths.

"With such a polite request, how could I refuse?" She asked with her mouth gently pressed against hers. Kya blew out a breath against her face and then raised a hand to wrap around the back of her neck and pull her in for a kiss.

Her lips felt like heaven on earth. Lin cannot remember any lover who has so easily dismantled her with a single kiss. However, Kya has. She slides her mouth over hers, enjoying every bit of her delicate skin. Kya tastes like caramel now, and she wants to get lost in that taste for the rest of her days. The waterbender sighs in her face and Lin is almost sure that she is thinking the same thing. She licks the police chief's lower lip, a slow stroke, asking for the permission she knows she would always have.

When she opens her mouth to deepen the kiss, her tongue sliding over hers, Kya growls. The sound makes Lin's inner muscles tighten, she puts her hands in the water to touch her. The hips, the belly, just below the breasts. Kya was a living sculpture in Lin's opinion, smooth, delicate with the curves that only an artist could have drawn.

She doesn't know how long they stay like this. Just kissing like two young idiots who need each other's touch so badly they can't stop. When they finally pull away, Kya has flushed cheeks, her eyes evidence dilated pupils and her lips are swollen. She looks even more beautiful. The waterbender's fingers pull Lin's hair away from her face, placing the remaining strands behind her ears, she is staring at her now.

The police chief looks down for a brief moment. She could walk the streets of Republic City displaying the scar on her face as if it were a prize, but she wasn't proud of all the scars that spread across her body in front of a lover's eyes. She knew that when she decided to follow in Toph's footsteps there would be a lot to face, she would not be a lady, but a warrior. She wonders what Kya sees when she looks at her.

Kya has a small smile on her mouth when she raises Lin's face by her chin, forcing her to look at her again.

"If you only knew how beautiful you are, Lin." She's not lying, because Kya never lied to Lin. The earthbender's cheeks look hot enough now to burn someone, if Kya notices she doesn't comment, too busy drawing Lin's lips with her thumb.

"Hypocritical." The police chief whispered, making the other woman laugh.

"You have a very interesting way of giving compliments." Lin opened her mouth to contest, but Kya pushed her by the shoulders, for the second time that day until the earthbender’s back was against the stone of the bathtub. "I have to confess that I like it." Lin frowned when Kya bent one of her legs, but she didn't have to think too much because the waterbender soon rode her thigh. She murmured in approval and Lin shivered at the sensation of her warm skin sliding over her. That was beyond hot.

A smile that could only be called a bastard was on Kya's mouth when she leaned over to the earthbender's neck. She placed a delicate kiss below her jaw and smiled when she noticed the shiver that Lin couldn't handle. She stroked her shoulders, her sharp collarbones and then held her breasts in her palms. Lin's hands grabbed her hips with the contact on her nipples, almost in reflex. The waterbender left a delicate kiss on her bottom lip while massaging the tips of her hardened nipples. Lin took a deep breath, her ears were accumulating more and more blood, she needed Kya to move in her, she needed Kya to ride her.

The earthbender tried to pull her hips towards her, but Kya didn't move an inch. The water wouldn't let Lin move her, forming a perfect second skin on Kya's body. Her blue eyes were shining when she slid a hand between the police chief's legs.

"If you haven't noticed yet, chief ... This is my field." Pathetic was the way Lin's body shook when Kya sank two fingers in her. She leaned over to take the waterbender's lips in another kiss, because she knew the moan that would fall from her mouth at that moment would make Kya boast about for weeks.

Nothing. She couldn't think of anything as Kya moved her fingers in and out of her at the same rate as she moved her body up and down Lin's thigh. The way her breasts felt in her hands, the way her breathing was increasingly failing, the way Kya looked like a drug that she couldn't get enough of. She was everything. And if she was everything, Lin wouldn't mind being consumed by her. 

"Remind me to never complain about you waking up at 5 in the morning to work out." Kya's voice sounded weak between their mouths, but Lin was unable to hold a small wheeze. Kya's legs were shaking around her thigh, so soft compared to the hardness of Lin's muscles.

"You're welcome." Her fingers reached a point inside her that made her legs tremble this time, Lin thought it might be revenge. Kya felt because she was smiling when she started to ride harder.

She had her eyes closed while trying to consume Kya's mouth, but Lin could see the soft and shiny blue tone the water in the bathtub took. She was almost there. Her fingers tapped harder against her and the knot in Lin's stomach warned that she wouldn't be able to last much longer either. The earthbender dipped one hand into the water again to find the bundle of nerves at the apex of Kya's legs. She choked on Lin's mouth and the way her body trembled was enough for the knot to come loose.

The waves of pleasure hit her so hard this time that she got dizzy, Kya pulled her mouth away from hers to whimper "Lin", and her name seemed to echo in the bathroom or in her own head, Lin wouldn't know. She felt her walls tighten on Kya's fingers as her breath didn't respond to her own will. Lin's vision blurred and her ears felt numb. Her fingers were trembling around the waterbender, which looked just as surprised. The water still had a blue hue very similar to that of the cure and Kya watched as it slowly returned to normal.

She removed her fingers before wrapping her arms around Lin's neck. The earthbender sighed, hugging Kya's hips. That was ... intense, to say the least.

"Do you think that if I ask Mom if she has ever had stronger orgasms in the water she will find it too weird?" Kya's voice was hoarse and slow, something that would have made Lin wince if it weren't for the content of her question. The police chief laughed and Kya followed her right after.

"Don’t do that." Kya pulled away enough to rest her forehead against Lin's. They sighed almost at the same moment while their breaths were still trying to get back to normal.

"So I think you're going to have to do tests with me. Apparently if we are in the water we can combine orgasms." Lin shook her head negatively as she looked at her.

"Always at your disposal." Kya laughed again and the sound made Lin's mind even more foggy. She loved to hear her laugh.

Lin took a deep breath as she looked at her with her eyes now open. The blue of her eyes threatens to take her sanity away. She cannot define how much affection and care there is in that look, she feels almost suffocated. She could easily be drowning in an ocean. The earthbender feels a painful tightness in her chest that she doesn't understand the meaning of, at least not at that moment.

She tightens her arms around Kya and closes her eyes.

There is only the sound of their breaths in the bathroom. There is nothing else in the world.

It's what she repeats mentally.

Nothing else in the world.


	2. Orpheus and self-love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...More of my favorite couple.
> 
> It's really good to enter in Lin's mind, I'm just devoted to her.

Lin pondered how many minutes she was looking at the same scheme of the most dangerous areas in Republic City. It had been 20 minutes at least, maybe more. It wasn't useful, it wouldn't say how to end organized crime or how to put all those guys behind bars. She needed to go outside, patrol, anything that would help her get her head out of it.

She didn't like those moments of total stillness, that was the truth that Lin didn't like to face. When she had to be out there, fighting whatever it was, against a crazy blood bender or an even crazier dictator she had a focus. She had to save people, fight, use the muscles, fists, pull stones and pieces of metal, break some bones in the process if necessary or get some more scars. But when things were too quiet ... She had to live with her own mind, constantly. Lin hated those moments.

She gets up from her desk and none of her staff is surprised when she comes down the stairs of the temporary station to the small gym they set up in the back of the building. This was very common for them, those who knew her the longest knew that Chief Beifong could not stay still for long. She had to keep moving, constant moving, she couldn't stop. If she stopped, some things could emerge. Things she doesn't deal with, not today. No, never.  
She pulls the uniform off her body and it finds the wall with a thud. She stretches her arms, her legs before wrapping the white bands around the contact areas, and then she finds the first sandbag in the room. It had been a long time since Lin had imagined an enemy in the place of the bag. The first kick finds the material covered with sand, the impact seems to move the entire room and the smile goes up on Lin's face. She breathes. Once. Twice.

Her fists hit the bag hard enough for it to hit the wall. The bag returns only to receive one more punching session, Lin rotates her hip to hit a sidekick that breaks the chains that hold the bag in place. The police chief sighs, rubbing her fingers on her already sweaty forehead. She uses metalbending to put the bag back in place. As soon as it looks firm enough she starts another punching session. Do not think. Just act. Just feel.

She has no idea how long she has been there. It relieved her head of what she didn't even know was bothering her, that pain behind her head. Lin had a hunch of what it was, but she wasn't going to stop to analyze it. The city was constantly in danger. She needed to be focused, always with the muscles ready to face anything. She wasn't weak, she needed nothing but her own fists to face these demons.  
Her breathing is getting weaker and weaker as she sweats to complete another body-fighting session. This was one that Toph herself taught her, how to take down a bigger opponent with the most intense pain points on the body. She brushed her hair away from her sweaty face, never letting her guard down. Her muscles sang as she moved back and forth, imagining someone else, someone bigger who could break her in half. She couldn't hit the eyes, her fist wouldn't reach there, it would have to be the lower part of the body.

The first powerful kick hits where the anterior tibial muscle would be. The enemy stagger, but doesn't fall. Lin walks away, dodging an imaginary punch, he would try to grab her before she reaches the next point. It's at that moment that she has the opportunity to hit a right hook in the jaw, the sandbag deforms in a strange way when her fist hits. Now her opponent is stunned, it's time for the final blow. The next kick is perfectly aligned. She hits the bag where the opponent's groin would be and Lin can only watch while the bag breaks in half with the force of her hit. Her breath is short and she can feel how her whole body is exhaling a steamy heat, the sand drips from the top and bottom, dirtying the gym floor.

"Why did that turn me on?" Lin's eyes widen, her head immediately turning towards the door, the reflexes extremely active. Kya was standing, arms crossed under her chest and a soft smile on her face, she seemed to be having the time of her life there.

"How long have you been there?" It was true that Lin didn't notice the surroundings when she was doing her own training. Her focus was admirable, but now she feels her ears a little warm because Kya was watching her training. She grabs a white towel from one of the long benches against the wall and wipes some of the sweat off her forehead. Not that it matters. Her top tank is drenched in sweat.  
"Not long." Kya is wearing pants under one of the typical water tribe tunics. She looks beautiful. Her steps are light when she approaches the police chief. Lin watches as she looks around her body before turning her eyes to hers. "I accompanied Asami to where the new housing is being built, she wanted to know which people need houses the most to be the first to receive them." Lin nods, rubbing the towel around her neck, the waterbender follows the movement with interest. She stops talking for a moment and the police chief raises an eyebrow, the mocking smile wanting to take her mouth. "I was close and I thought you might want to have lunch with me." She finishes, swallowing for a moment. Lin tilts her head. It wasn't a bad idea to go out for lunch, she should put some protein in her body after that whole session. "Do you do this every day?" Lin frowns when Kya gestures to the gym. Every day would be a bit of euphemism.

"I do this whenever I have a little free time, Kya." Kya ends the distance between their bodies, fingertips fingering the muscles in Lin's arms, damp with sweat. Lin's breathing failed a little, the reason a little different now, she was always a little alert after training and Kya's presence wasn't helping.

"That explains this impressive musculature." Kya's hands close around the earthbender's forearms and she holds her breath. She wasn't in a very good position for small touches, the mere brushing was making her unstable. The waterbender has to know that. "Do you know what I was talking to Asami today?" She leans toward her face, her lips hovering over her cheek, Lin's lips are red from blood circulation. The police chief takes a deep breath before shaking her head. "About how our mothers didn't get along at first when they first met and now they have to deal with the fact that their daughters are fucking against any flat enough surface." Lin feels the weight of Kya's words rests inside her, pulsing, needing.  
"Did you really say that to her?" Kya holds her lower lip between her teeth, a mischievous smile at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes are shining, almost childishly.

"I may not have mentioned the word 'fuck'." Kya's fingers go up to Lin's shoulders, touching her neck then, her veins are dilated and it's surprisingly easy for the waterbender to squeeze the jugular veins with her thumbs. She knows that the lack of blood on Lin's head leaves her legs weak. Kya knows her body so well that it is ridiculous to try to fight.

"Kya ..." Lin tries, they are at the temporary police station, people are working a few meters away, it's not a place to have sex.

"Yes, Lin?" Lin's fingers fist with the way she says her name. She has to know that it has that effect on her. Kya is just smiling out of the corner of her mouth as if she's having a great time watching the conflict inside the earthbender's mind.

"We should go and have lunch." She has to swallow while watching the other woman moisten her bottom lip with the tip of her tongue. She is close enough for Lin to feel her breath on her face. This is not helping. Kya's eyes darken as they scan her body again. She must make a beautiful image, sweaty and looking like a mess. "Don't give me that look." Lin growls in a low tone and the way Kya tilts her head innocently as if she is doing absolutely nothing is too much.  
"What look?" She whispers back and it's enough for Lin's hands to wrap tightly around her waist, her fingers sinking into the softness of her hips. Kya lets out a satisfied breath against the earthbender's mouth, she is so hot now and so perfect. Lin can feel her heart racing through the ground and believes that hers is not much different. She makes a small gesture with her feet and the metal door behind Kya slams, the bar behind her locking the room. Fuck everyone else. The waterbender's eyes don't stray from Lin's greens, which look much darker now. "Spirits, I think I've never wanted anyone to fuck me this badly." Lin takes a deep breath, her inner muscles tighten hard and she has to maintain control. She has to maintain control enough so none of her staff finds out that she is fucking her girlfriend at the gym. "Lin." Kya's voice is soft but hoarse, her fingers grip her face, and her thumbs run across her cheeks. The police chief closes her eyes, just for a moment, just feeling her heartbeat. "Kiss Me." It's a request.

Lin doesn’t hesitate to concede.

Lin pushed her lips against hers, mouth open to taste her as intensely as possible. Kya trembled in her hands, fingers running down the earthbender's torso. Blood was flowing faster and faster through the police chief's veins. She didn't let Kya have the first initiative and stuck her tongue in the waterbender's mouth. Her taste. Lin almost squeezed her legs together, desperately needing any form of relief from the pulsation in her core. The other woman's fingers found the hem of the police chief's top. She doesn't hesitate before reaching under the fabric, touching the earthbender's abs. Lin sighs. Her fingers are the fingers of a healer, they are soft, but they know how to touch.  
Her hands go up to caress just below her breasts and Lin's breath catches. No. Not now. She pushes Kya around the waist until she finds the nearest wall. Her lips part and the waterbender looks like a perfect mess, her hair is already a little disorganized and her lips are stained. Lin doesn't know where the terrifying desire to ruin her comes from. She wants to make her hers. Lin bends over just to put a delicate bite on Kya's chin. The heart of the waterbender is beating so fast now.

"Be quiet okay?" Kya's eyes shine and it's humor that Lin sees in that glow.

"Talk is cheap." She replies, hands wrapping the earthbender's breasts under the blouse. Lin closes her eyes with the warmth she awakens in her body with just a few touches. She sighs deeply before leaning to Kya's neck, she places a soft kiss on the dark skin before sinking her teeth in place. Kya arches her back.

"Lin." It's a needy, quiet groan that sends a shiver through the police chief's spine. She sucks the skin between her teeth hard enough to leave a mark even with Kya's dark skin. It was possessive and stupid, but Lin didn't want to care.  
She sank into her mouth again as Kya's fingers tried to pull the ties on her pants. She stuck her hand through all the layers of clothing when she finally undid them. It was instinctive for the earthbender to move against her hand as soon as she ran her fingers over her. Lin was dripping, Kya knew how to leave her in that state with so few gestures.

"Fuck, Lin." She whispered between her lips, her fingertips rubbing that button of nerves on her apex. Lin's legs trembled and she pushed more against her hand, she needed her inside. The earthbender lowered her mouth again, this time pulling the pieces of the tunic aside. Her mouth was around one of Kya's breasts then, sucking the nipple into her mouth with such hunger that it left the waterbender's breath a panting mess. It took her a second to recover before sliding her fingers inside Lin.

The earthbender moaned with her mouth still wrapped around one of Kya's breasts, one hand rubbing the other and the way it made the healer's body respond should not be considered common. Lin moved her hips in the direction of each stroke of her fingers, the knot in her stomach tightening with each movement. She doesn't know how Kya manages to leave her like this. She needs a look and some insinuating words to have Lin wrapped around her finger, literally.

The police chief opened her eyes to look at her. Eyes like the ocean itself stared back, intense, excited, and in desperate need of pleasure. Lin tightened around her fingers. She wasn't going to last long. She lifted her mouth back to hers in a much calmer kiss, running her tongue over her lips as if she wanted to map her.

It was at that moment that Kya pulled her fingers out of her, only to return with three of them.

"Kya." Her name on the earthbender's mouth sent a stupidly intense shiver through Kya's body. Lin's body collapsed and she had to hold on to the waterbender's shoulders to keep from falling while the orgasm hit her like a slap in the face. The hot waves clouded Lin's head and she dropped her forehead against Kya's shoulder, trying to catch her breath, trying to stop her legs from shaking.

She looked at the other woman. Kya had a proud smile on the corner of her lips that made the police chief shake her head. She needed to make this woman come. She removed her hand from inside her pants before simply pulling hers down with whatever other underwear she was wearing. Kya gasped in surprise and Lin had the most satisfied smile in the world when she got down on her knees for her.  
"Beifongs don't usually kneel, but I think you're a productive exception." Kya was about to reply, but Lin put her mouth on her and all the clever responses disappeared from her head.

She slid her tongue across her before wrapping her lips around the bunch of nerves and sucking. The other taste of Kya that left Lin out of her common state, bittersweet and wet. She heard the sounds that Kya made as her fingers threaded through her hair and it encouraged her to continue. She supported the waterbender with her hands on her hips as she ate her as if there was no tomorrow. And maybe there wasn't considering the way Kya's body was shaking, she could die there and she wouldn't mind.

Lin hugged the waterbender's hip with one arm, making sure she was supported before using her free hand to slide two fingers into her heat. Kya's head found the wall, a curse falling from her lips. She looked pretty ruined for Lin.

The police chief began to move her fingers, keeping her blows steady with her tongue against her clitoris. She felt Kya's fingers tighten on her scalp, she could already see her body starting to glow. How Lin loved to make her body shine. She just needed a little The earthbender pulled her mouth away to look at her. Kya opened her eyes as if she knew she was looking at her. Lin smiled at the corner of her mouth.

"Come to me, Kya." She only needed to push her fingers once more for her body to come apart in an orgasm. Her entire skin rose to that faint shade of blue for a moment before it went out. Lin got to her feet and held her before she slid to the floor. "Good." She whispered, placing a kiss on the corner of Kya's cheek that still looked static, her breath hitting Lin's skin in brief intervals. "Lunch?" She asked with a small laugh and Kya tapped her lightly on the shoulder before laughing too.

Lin took a deep breath, hoping she hadn't traumatized any unsuspecting people who passed through the gym door.

"They are in an abandoned warehouse on the docks, pier 31." Mako announced as he arrived at Lin's desk. The earthbender looked up from the report of one of her policemen and frowned at the two boys standing in front of her.  
"Who's in an abandoned warehouse on pier 31 of the docks?" Lin asked as she crossed her fingers on the table.

"The Triple Threats." Mako replied while he adjusted his uniform. "We have to go there tonight, they can move again by tomorrow." That was good information, which is why Lin's eyes narrow as she stares at the boys.

"And how did you get that information?" Not illegally, she hoped.

"Oh we were" good cop and bad cop "with one of the boys who sends messages between gang members ... As we used to do ourselves." It was Bolin who explained animatedly, as always. The earthbender pondered for a moment. This sounded suspicious, almost as if the boy they picked up had been instructed by the members to pass on false information. But it was the best clue they had in days, Lin couldn't rule it out.

She was going to catch these guys.  
"You will help me with an invasion plan." She pointed to the two boys. Mako just nodded resolutely as Bolin hopped from foot to foot in excitement. And she who thought she and Su were very different. "Let everyone know we're going to have an operation tonight, Bolin. I'm going to need everyone." The boy saluted, green eyes shining with pure delight before walking away down the hall. "He's even doing well as a cop." Lin commented as she searched the drawers for the map she had of the docks.

"Bolin is good at everything he does. That must be why he hasn't decided on a career to date." She pulls out the map and spreads it on the table. Mako looks at the graph and leans over the table to circle pier 31 with a pen. "We are going to finish this today, chief." Lin nods.

She really expected them to do it. But at least it was still a job, something to stay focused on. Something to stop her from thinking.

Lin grabbed the walk talk in her hands, she looked at the back of Mako's head and Bolin just behind her. She didn't want them on the front lines, but apparently, these two were just as stubborn as if they had Beifong blood. She pressed the button on the communicator.

"Everyone get in position. I'll lead the recon team in. Don't make a move until I give the Go-ahead." She told the attacking team that she was hiding behind the other counter.

"Received, chief." Kruv replied and she took a breath before moving forward, Mako and Bolin with her and 3 more of her best men. There would be no mistakes this time. There would be no spirits. They ran towards the abandoned warehouse. Adrenaline was pumping through the police chief's veins. She leaned her back against the cold metal of the shed and held out a fisted hand behind her. A silent gesture for them to wait.

Lin mentalbended her boot so she could feel the floor. She stamped her foot and concentrated on the vibrations, seismic sense just like her mother taught, her invisible eyes informed her that there was no one on the upper floor of the warehouse, but there were bodies down there, the size of people. It had to be the Triple. Tokuga.  
"I picked up at least a dozen people on the lower level. Get ready to move." She announced on the walk talk to Krov, not expecting his answer. Then she dragged the metal door with a simple gesture and they entered.

Lin led the way, Mako lit the way with his good arm, a light crackling flame between his fingers. Bolin right behind.

She was going to catch them this time. She would.

They got into the lowest level, just a metal door keeping them away from the criminals. Lin kicked the door without thinking twice.

"Police! Everyone freeze!" She screamed as her muscular memory put her in a combat pose, ready for anything. Or maybe ... Almost anything.

"Uh, chief?" She watched with boiling eyes the scarecrows with masks scattered around the place, the same size as people. She knew what was going on. They only had a second to act before ...

A metallic sound and then ... Fire. A lot...Of fire.  
Lin didn't think. Not really. She heard Mako shout something, but her instinct made her grab Bolin and throw him out of the flames. She was quick but not fast enough to keep part of the flames from licking her arm and hand. She screamed at the sensation of the metal plates burning her skin, the flesh being eaten by the fire. Damn, how that hurt.

"CHIEF!" Mako shouted, but didn't stray from his task. He made the flames recede to nothing.

"Chief." It was Bolin who grabbed her by the other arm to take her off the floor. Lin felt that she could vomit with the pain, she didn't want to look at how her hand was. The boy basically carried her out of the warehouse with Mako saying a million of "I'm sorry" behind them.

Lin's mind was clouded with pain, but she managed to take a breath to look into Mako's orange eyes.

"It's not your fault. Tokuga was one step ahead of us." As she thought. In fact ... She started to think a lot about whether this was a personal attack. The boy couldn't be happy after the spirit passed him, it was Lin who stopped him from running away. Her stomach contracted with the throbbing of her burned skin and she couldn't contain the growl.

"Should we go to Kya?" Bolin asked as he looked worriedly at Lin's face, which was tight with pain. Would Kya have to heal her? Yes. There was no way she could go through a normal healing process with that. But it was too late. Kya went to sleep on the air temple island because Lin would probably not be coming home. There were no ferries at this time of night. She would have to wait until tomorrow.  
"No." She told the two boys that they titled their heads almost the same way Kya did when she was worried. "I won't let Tokuga outsmart us again." Bolin pressed his lips together and she rose from his arms, trying as hard as possible not to move her burned arm or hand. "Sweep what's left of the room. See if Tokuga left behind any clues where he might be hiding." She uses the tone of the police chief, the one that doesn't take "no" for an answer. That is why Bolin and Mako follow the others into the warehouse again. However, before Bolin reaches the stairs he runs back and his arms wrap around the police chief's waist delicately, completely out of step with the muscle mass he was. She frowns.

"Thank you, for saving me, chief." She just squeezes the boy's shoulder with her good hand.

"It was nothing kid." She says that, but when he walks away, still with those worried eyes on her, her eyes fill with tears.

When everyone enters her tears come down. She doesn't know which ones are in pain and which are from something else. The tears just come down as she rips the uniform off her left arm. She grits her teeth to keep from screaming in pain again. Her skin is extremely red from the elbow down and her hand ... Her hand has ugly blisters and looks even redder. She doesn't regret it. Not for a second. The boy was fine and that was all that mattered.

She sits down and a sigh leaves her mouth, tears still streaming down her cheeks. Bolin was fine, that was what mattered. Fuck her arm, fuck her pain.  
For some reason, while she is there, leaning against an abandoned shed, listening to her men search the place completely what comes to her head is the first time that Kya has healed her. She closes her eyes and lets the memory take her.

_Su had messed with a firebender at school. Lin knew that she shouldn't interfere, that her sister had to learn to deal with her own shit at some point. But Su was so small. She wasn't even 12 years old. Lin was already 16. She had to protect her sister. That's why it wasn't Su who appeared in that alley near the school, but Lin. The firebenders were not happy about that. They were always proud people and wanted the one who had insulted the youngest member of their group. Lin told them that she didn't care what they thought, they wouldn't have to think after she kicked their ass._

_They were inexperienced, so she managed to beat 5 firebenders on her own. But that earned her three pretty bad burns, two on her arms and one on her leg. That was why she was looking for Kya at the hospital where Katara worked, it was the easiest place to find her._

_Kya was helping an elderly lady up the stairs with a smile. 17 years. The most beautiful smile in Republic City. When she saw Lin she waved, but it didn't take much to realize things were wrong. She tilted her head in that same worried way._

_"I'm going to get water in there, find me on the roof." They couldn't risk doing the healing in any area inside or outside the hospital, if Katara saw she would tell Toph. If Toph knew she would want the whole story and then the whole point of not getting Su into trouble would be lost._

_Lin hoisted herself through the back of the hospital with earthbending and went slowly down to one of Kya's favorite places to look at the stars. When they were unable to go to the island, the top of the hospital had one of the cleanest landscapes to observe the sky and it was there that they liked to see the constellations, sometimes with Bumi and Tenzin. Sometimes no._

_Kya arrived two minutes later, with her water skin. She didn't ask. She just did her job, light, delicate hands glowing blue as she disappeared with each of the wounds. Lin remembers thinking that she had very beautiful hands, but she shook that thought out in the next second._

_"Su got involved with some firebenders at school." She found herself needing to explain. Kya lay against the terrace floor, crossing her arms behind her brown hair._

_"And big sister Lin went to save her ungrateful ass." She didn't remember Kya ever talking about Su like that. Kya usually tried to pacify their fights, looking both ways, trying to find a middle ground. Her voice sounds so cold._

_"Kind of." She murmured as she lay down beside her, looking up at the sky that was turning from orange to a dark blue that reminded her of Kya's eyes._

_The silence was what reigned for a moment, which was strange. Kya always had something to tell Lin, who was the best listener, according to herself. But now she remains deadly silent._

_"Do you know where the Lyra constellation comes from?" Kya asked suddenly, pointing to some points that started to appear in the sky. Lin frowned and shook her head. "Represents Orpheus who went down to hell to fetch his wife, Eurydice." Lin knew the story, the story of people who lived thousands of years before them. "Arrogant he didn't worry about what would happen to him if he went to hell, he just wanted to find the one he loved. To protect the one he loved at all costs. He was torn apart by women in his death." Lin's eyebrows furrow to the point of coming together while she tells the story, not knowing where it was going. "As beautiful as this whole thing of going to hell for someone you love is, I always wondered what would have happened if he had just followed his life. No hell. No nails ripping his skin. "Kya propped an elbow on the floor to turn to Lin, looking her straight in the eye." We have to love ourselves before we love anyone else, you know? Orpheus never noticed that. " Lin opened her mouth to say something to Kya, but they heard Katara's voice on the stairs, asking for her daughter's help to heal someone._

_Kya smiled at her one last time before kissing her cheek and getting up. She even watched Kya go for a moment, her words echoing in her head, even though she didn't fully understand what the conversation was about._

30 years have passed. Lin still didn't understand and desperately needed her girlfriend to heal that damn arm.

Kya knew about the fire in the early hours of the morning. Tenzin was talking about this at the breakfast table while he read the newspaper and discussed with the children about the best ways to deal with the entire situation on the portal.

She doesn't know why, but her belly freezes. Her fingers start to shake around the cup of tea. Lin would have come for her if she was hurt, right? Lin was smart, she knows that burns are not things to play with, that the pain is horrible as the hours go by and there is no treatment. Who is she fooling? Her girlfriend is the human with the hardest metal head she has ever seen. She gets up from the table and all eyes follow her when she grabs her skin and heads for the door. But she comes back.

She puts a kiss on the cheek of each of Tenzin's children, a hug on Bumi and Pema and a kiss on her brother's bald head.

"See you later." She doesn't take the ferry.

She slides over the water as fast as she can, she needed to make sure that Lin was okay, that she hadn't been stupid enough not to come to her right away. The water splashes on her and she just rubs her face. The refugee center is closer, she can take a ride with someone to the police station. Kya's heart is racing, her face is red. Crap, Lin. Why can't you just stop taking risks?

Her fingers tremble more with each step she takes within the city.  
As soon as she enters the refugee center she starts looking for one of the policemen who always passed by to see if everything was okay. He could take her to the police station. She enters the healing tent and frowns when all the eyes of the other healers rest on her. They bow their heads in respect and fulfillment before they simply leave. Kya frowns, but the reason is soon explained because Lin is sitting on the last stretcher. She can see the burn on her arm and her eyes moisten. Again. She hurt herself again.

Kya's steps are slow when she approaches her. Her hair is tied up, as usual, the uniform is perfectly intact on the bed next to her, as if she had polished herself with that fucked up arm. Kya wants to scream. She wants to scream so badly.

"There was a fire, we were fooled by Tokuga, but none of the boys were hurt." Of course. She wouldn't let them get a chance to get hurt. Kya says nothing. She reaches out to touch the unburned part of her arm to know the severity of the burn before pulling on her skin. "I wanted to go look for you, but it was too late, there were no ferries and ... I did the first aid, I wrapped pieces of fabric with water." Kya nods but doesn't speak. She doesn't want to speak. She doesn't know what will come out if she speaks. She feels the tingling known in her fingers as she heals the red marks, Lin's burnt flesh. She has no idea how much it should be hurting.

The hand requires more of her healing skills, but it isn't very complex. Soon, Lin's skin returns to the clear tone it always had, the blisters disappearing, no scars. A perfect job.  
"Thank you." Kya looks up at her, at those green eyes that had her so easily. She lets out a breath through her mouth before just nodding again, walking away. She can't be around Lin right now. "Is there something wrong?" Lin gets up. She doesn't wear the uniform right away, she just stands there, so far from the police chief who risks everything for everyone. "Kya." The touch on her shoulder is hesitant as if Kya were the one who had a hand almost completely burned a few seconds ago. Why? The question echoes in Kya's head. She knows the answer and it makes her blood run cold.

"You can't keep doing this." She can feel Lin frowning behind her. This would not be easy. "I ... Lin." The waterbender turns to look at the shorter woman who always looks a few inches taller because of her attitude. "You can't keep getting hurt like that." Her eyebrows furrow, probably because she noticed how bright her eyes were with tears.

"It was just a burn, Kya." She smirks, trying to comfort the healer. It doesn't work.

"It could be much worse, Lin." The earthbender just shrugs and the way she is indifferent feels like a knife against Kya's stomach. "What if you really get hurt badly someday? If, out of sheer arrogance, you have a wound so bad that I can't heal?" Lin opens her mouth and then that look of pure irony takes over her face.  
"Arrogance?" She was walking on thin ice, she knew she was.

"This kid is half spirit, we don't know the extent of his powers, how he thinks, how he acts. This is work for the avatar, but you have to get into it to save everyone you can. No matter what it costs. " Kya notices when her jaw tenses, strong enough to break a stone into two pieces. She knows that Lin doesn't want to hear it, but she has to say it.

"Gangs are police work. What are the Triple Threats, Kya?" The waterbender sighs and shakes her head negatively, she knew it was no use trying to discuss with Lin when she started to be sharp. "Now do you want me to leave a whole operation just because you are worried?" She raises her arms in exasperation at the absurdity of it all. Kya moistens her lips with the tip of her tongue, she knows that as soon as the words come out of her mouth there will be no turning back. But she can't take it anymore.

"I just want you to stop sacrificing yourself whenever the perfect opportunity comes." Lin's mouth opens, but she still doesn't have an answer for that. That's why Kya keeps talking. "You always sacrifice yourself, no matter if there is another way, you don't think, you don't hesitate before you put yourself on the front lines." Lin shakes her head, she doesn't want to hear it, but she has to.  
"I only do what I think is right." She grumbles, crossing her arms around herself. She is closing in, more and more, Kya can feel the change in her aura. A tear runs down her face.

"You don't love yourself, Lin." Her eyes turn to her and they are wide as if it were an absurd statement. "You don't hesitate, because you believe that someone else's life is worth more than yours." Tears are streaming down the waterbender's eyes now, hot and painful. She raises her fingers to wipe them while Lin compresses her lips. The healer wonders if she is keeping tears for herself, as she always does.

"I really don't need a self-love speech right now, Kya. Self-love doesn't save lives, lives that will be lost if I don't get my ass out there and do something." Kya wants to throw up. That is precisely the point. Lin pulls on her uniform and it clings to her body with the same mobility as before, but Kya cannot admire the movement. She looked at the waterbender before starting to move.

"What about me?" Her voice makes Lin stop in place, still on her back. "If you can't consider your own life for yourself. Don't you think about me? Or about the boys? Or about your sister? Your mother? Whenever you're out there?" The silence seems to take its place as she stares at Lin's back, where the metal wires are perfectly wrapped.

"I can't think." She replies, her voice cracked enough for Kya to know that she has tears on her face too. "That's why I don't stop." Kya frowns, but Lin soon returns to her composure, straightening her shoulders and starting to walk again. "Unfortunately, not everyone can be a healing hippie." She knows she doesn't mean it, it's just her defenses at work. But it doesn't stop it from hurting less. Lin leaves the tent and Kya lets her body fall on the stretcher, tears streaming freely down her face now. She puts a hand over her mouth to avoid sobbing, her heart looks so small now, her head is throbbing. She just wants to curl up in Katara's arms and never leave again.

Please, just love yourself damn metal head.

"Kya." She looks back instinctively and tries to do her best to wipe her tears when Korra enters the tent. "Hey ... what happened?" The girl kneels before her, glider in hand. Kya just shrugs, trying to smile while the tears are still falling. Spirits, it shouldn't hurt that much.

"I tried to tell my girlfriend that she shouldn't take such risks and love herself a little more." Korra opens and closes her mouth, looking for something to say. "You must imagine how it went." The girl tilts her head, her eyes watering as she extends her arms. Kya hugs her and the tears seem to increase as she lets herself go in that hug. Her chin trembled a little.

"I'm sorry. We all know how resentful Lin can be when someone pokes her insecurities." Korra strokes her hair, her touch is gentle and her fingers are also very callous, just like Lin's. When Kya calms down enough she walks away, a little embarrassed that a girl has comforted her.

"You need help?" She asks, wiping her face on the sleeves of her tunic. Korra seems to finally remember the reason for being there and pulls the end of her hair nervously.

"So ... I just wanted to know if ... Of course if you're not too busy and of course, if you're okay ..." Kya frowns and smiles to try to encourage her. "It's just that my girlfriend is kind of hardheaded with personal security too." She sits next to Kya, crossing her legs like an airbender. "The Creeping Crystals threatened Asami and she doesn't want me to do her safety. She just hired some guys who aren't even benders." So the gangs were really out of control, that was quite worrying. "So I thought that since you're in town ... If you have some free time and could take a look at her for me." Kya smiled with the care that the girl showed for Asami. It was admirable and quite adorable. She touched her shoulder lightly.  
"Don't worry, I think it'll be quiet here today with the delivery of supplies. I'll keep an eye on her." Korra smiled brightly at her before getting up.

"Thank you, Kya. I really appreciate that." She just shook the girl's hand, saying without words that she understood her feeling perfectly. "We both have stupid girlfriends." She mocked and Kya laughed. It was the first time she laughed that day.

"I couldn't agree more." Korra placed a kiss on her cheek before leaving, using her glider to fly away.

Kya blew out a breath and looked at her hands for a moment.

She wanted to be able to fly away too.


	3. The order of the white tank top

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this title

Lin had been staring at the police station clock for more than 20 minutes, not wanting to think about anything at all, when the phone in the corner of the room rang it was Mako who got up to answer.

"Korra?" He said out loud to let Lin and Bolin, the only others in the room, be aware that the avatar had something important to deal with. "Everything all right?" He asked and Lin spun in her chair, genuinely interested now. "Okay. We'll meet you there." Mako hung up and immediately took the keys to the police satomobile. He looked at Lin for a moment. "Korra thinks Asami is in trouble, it could be something with the gangs." The police chief frowns, pondering why a girl like Asami would have anything to do with any gang other than her father's past. "I can go with Bolin and we send you a report." Lin shook her head. She doesn't know what hits her warning points, but something was very wrong with this story. She gets up and takes the keys from Mako.

"I'll drive." She says simply and Bolin jumps out of the chair to go after them.

"The order of the white tank top will strike again." He celebrates and Lin just rolls her eyes so hard she thinks they might not come back from behind her head.

Lin knew something was wrong when she parked the satomobile in the construction area of the new buildings, almost at the same time that Korra landed with her glider. Mako and Bolin jumped out of the car in the next second and so did the earthbender. Something to focus on. Something not to think about.

Asami's trailer was completely destroyed on the outside, stones hanging from the carcass and also loose around.

"Asami? Asami?" Korra ran towards the door, entering without hesitation. She didn't mind that Mako and Bolin brought the chief of police with them, her voice seemed to have lost all power.

They entered the trailer. The walls were broken, everything was overturned and workers with the Future Industries uniform were passed out among the wreckage.

"It looks like there was a fight ..." pondered Bolin.

"Do you think?" Mako scoffed and each of them took care of trying to raise a person.

"What happened? Where's Asami?" Korra asked a woman with a scratched face. Lin pulled a boy off the floor who groaned in pain, but managed to get to his feet.

"Not sure ... We were ambushed ..." The girl Bolin was supporting said in a rather hoarse voice. A typical kidnapping ... Probably for money.

"Did you get a look at who attacked you?" It was Mako's turn to ask, being the cop she was training him to be.

"No, they came out of nowhere ... When we saw we were on the floor and Miss Sato and the white-haired lady were gone." Lin's eyes widen and her heart races in her chest. It couldn't ... Could it be Kya?

"Was the lady a waterbender?" Lin didn't see when she released the boy she was holding to quickly approach the girl. She flinched, like most people when Lin used that tone.

"I think so, she was wearing blue clothes." Lin's jaw cracked, her breath hitched. They couldn't have taken Kya ... No ... That was a bad joke.

"I asked Kya to keep an eye on Asami when I knew there were some criminals threatening her." Lin turns her head very slowly towards the avatar. She can't believe what falls on her ears, she can't believe it.

She just can't.

"You ... You knew they were coming after Asami and ..." Lin has to take a long breath to keep from exploding, so as not to destroy what's left of that trailer. She can feel the barriers of self-control loosening. Wanting to let it all out."And you asked Kya to stay here? Not the police?" Korra presses her lips together as she crosses her arms, she can probably feel the storm that's coming for her. Lin's fingers are trembling and so is the floor below them.

"Asami wouldn't accept that I put a police escort on her office door." The earthbender's fingers are shaking so much now she has to fist them so that her arms don't move in the same way. She is seeing red. She is mad, but she doesn't know who she is madder with. Her teeth chatter with the strength she is making to maintain control. The boys are looking scared at both of them. "I'm sorry, okay?" Korra raises her arms in withdrawal, her eyes look teary. "I didn't know they were going to be kidnapped." Kya was kidnapped. Kya was kidnapped. The facts fall on Lin's ears with violence. She was kidnapped. She may not be well. A lump forms in Lin's throat. Fuck.

"That's your fucking problem, Korra. You don't think." Bolin's eyes widen at Lin's language. He never heard her curse before, nor did Korra. But the girl's reaction is to stiffen her expressions, ready to argue.

"Hey." It's Mako who gets in the middle of them. "We need focus to find Kya and Asami. The two of you fighting is not going to help anything." He declared looking from the police chief to the avatar.

"I know exactly who did this." Korra took a deep breath and Lin's heart raced. She had to be okay. She just had to be. Lin had no idea what she’d do if she wasn’t. "The Creeping Crystal Triad. Do you know where we can find them?" She asked Lin and she just nodded. She knew the hideout of half of the city's triads.

"So let's go." Korra didn't hesitate before walking out the door of the trailer, with the three behind her.

"Korra! Wait, how do you know it was Creeping Crystals?" Lin was so stunned it didn't even cross her mind. She just needed to get to Kya. She needed to apologize for being a complete idiot. She needed to make sure she wasn't hurt.

"I just do, okay. I'll explain on the way. Now, can any of you drive?”

Lin let Mako drive. She was in no shape to take a wheel. Her fingers were still trembling.

"I'm here for Jargala." Korra kicked the building's door so hard the wooden surface got stuck on the opposite wall. Lin came in right after her, dodging cystals and using earthbending to throw them away. She shouldn't be here, they didn't have a warrant, but she wouldn't care about that. She deflects another crystal, throwing it in the direction it came, desperately looking for any sign of white hair, any sign she was here. Her stomach starts to sink. The Creeping Crystals were not kidnappers. Kya was not here, she could feel it.

Everything was a sickly shade of green, or maybe it was just Lin's stomach turning over again. This is her fault. Her head whispers.

It's her fault and nobody else's.

"Where's Asami?" Korra placed herself in front of the leader of the Creeping Crystals. A young woman, dressed in purple and green and with a frown on her face. The avatar looked back to where Lin was, arms raised to any other crystal, but her eyes were far from being in that fight. "And Kya?" She added shortly thereafter staying on base to fight.

"I don't take kindly people barging on me, especially the avatar." The woman looked up to look over Korra's head and then a knowing smile took her mouth. "And the Republic City chief of police." A nerve started to move on its own on Lin's cheek, a nervous tic she hadn't had in years. Bolin looked at her, arms also raised, again tilted his head in the same way Kya did. Lin was going to be sick anytime soon. "Asami Sato? You came to the wrong place, girl." Jargala declared with a shrug. "And I don't even know who this Kya is so I can't help you with that." She was telling the truth, Lin could feel it for her heartbeat. She wished she was lying ... Because if it weren't the Creeping Crystals ... That would leave ... Lin rubs her forehead hard enough to hurt.

"I know you threatened her. Where are they?" Korra repeated, getting close enough to look the woman directly in the eye. Her goons didn't seem at all concerned about stopping anything, Lin didn't blame them. It was the avatar over there.

"I'm telling you they're not here. Don't believe me? Take a look around." Jargala held out her arms to the green-lit room and very expensive things that were probably stolen. Lin didn't want to waste time on this. She couldn't feel Kya. She couldn't feel Asami.

She couldn't feel Kya.

Her hands started to tremble again. She had never realized how terrifying it was not to be able to feel the body of someone who was supposed to be there. The feeling of emptiness was so great she thought it could consume her.

And it probably would, at some point. She had to find Kya. She just had to.

They overturned the hideout of the Creeping Crystals and the discovery was what Lin already knew. There was nothing there. No sign of Kya or Asami.

"Told you she wasn't here, now get lost avatar. Before we make you lost." Jargala leaned against the doorjamb of the building with a smirk as they left.

"Don't think that I can't get you arrested at any time, Jargala." Lin snarled backward following the avatar's loop. Jargala just laughed, the sound made Lin's nails stick in her palms.

"They don't have them, Korra. We searched the whole buiding." Lin slammed the door of the satomobile hard enough to break the glass. The three young people with her stared at her in silence for a moment. She could almost feel their thoughts, pondering how long would take for Chief Beifong lose all the high control she had spent years building. When Chief Beifong was really going to collapse. Lin's eyes moistened a little and she swallowed.

It was almost Kya's revenge. There was nothing she could do. She couldn't put her body in front of the waterbender's to receive it.

"But something is going on." Mako said, waking everyone up from the little stare session. "First Wonyong Keum disappears, now Asami and Kya ..." Lin's eyes immediately went to Bolin and Mako and she felt the youngest boy cringing at her gaze.

"When did you intend to tell me that Wonyong Keum was missing?" Mako drummed his fingers on the steering wheel, compressing his lips in a thin line. He was tense.

"We went to his building today when you were healing, chief. We asked his staff and they haven't seen him in a few days." Well if Tokuga could be working for Wonyong ... "If Tokuga was working for Wonyong, maybe things went south between them." Mako finished his thinking that matched Lin's a lot. She had to say she was proud of him.

"Maybe it was the Triple Threats who took Asami and Kya ... But why?" Lin was about to express her concerns about Tokuga's personal motives in relation to her ... And probably in relation to Korra, but the sound of the satomobile radio made her shut up.

"Mako? Bolin? It's Krov." The attention of the three people on the satomobile immediately went to Mako when he picked up the communicator.

"Krov. It's Mako here. What's wrong?" There was something exploding through the call and the adrenaline started to run fast through Lin's body.

"Do you know where Chief Beifong is? We need everyone. The police depot is under attack. It's the Triple Threats." The chief of police felt her own teeth gnash at the same moment as Korra's beside her. Damn boy.

"She is with us, Krov. We are on our way." Mako accelerated more and Lin crossed her arms under her chest, her impatience and pure fear hitting every second through each of her veins. They wouldn't have killed her, would they? No. They needed hostages. But ... Kya wasn't helpless. She was smart, she knew when to attack and when to retreat. Spirits, she hoped she hadn't been stupid. She hoped she was just trapped and not beaten or ... Lin swallowed and tightened her arms around her, the pressure around her feeling like a ton of platinum.

She would be fine. She had to keep believing Kya would be fine.

Lin told the president more than four times that those machines shouldn't be in the police depot. They were too dangerous weapons, a simple invasion would give the enemy the advantage. But the president rarely heard anything, he would not pay attention to such a small problem with the police department with his elections coming so close. There was a lot of fire in the building, tanks and mecha tanks were shooting everywhere, creating more fire and more chaos. Her men couldn't handle it all, she didn't know if there was any strength in Republic City that could handle it. Lin didn't care ... If that boy had her girlfriend, he would regret the damn thing that put his feet in her way.

"Triple Threats, follow me!" He was on top of a tank. Mako was the first to see him and Lin knew immediately that something was very wrong with one of his arms. They ran.

Mako firebending the flames around them so they could reach Tokuga.

"You're not going anywhere, Tokuga!" Korra shouted as she advanced next to Lin. She doesn't remember the last time she fought side by side with the avatar.

"Stand down." It was Mako who said it, both hands glowing in flame. Lin raised her arms, feeling every bit of metal and stone she could use. She would use each of them to crush that boy's head if necessary.

"I was hoping you'd show up, avatar." Tokuga turned and when he turned ... The world seemed to stop for a moment. One of his arms was a long, scaly tentacle. Scales spread over half of his face, where his hair stopped growing and a long eyebrow outlined a curved, reddish eye. A strong shiver went down Lin's spine and she swallowed hard. Kya was right. She was right all along. "Do not act so surprised, Korra." He was smiling when he jumped out of the tank, a sword in one hand. "You turned me on this." He pointed the tentacle at the avatar and then seemed to notice the presence of the others. He smiled in Lin's direction, another shiver left her legs slightly limp. "Chief Beifong ... I expected you to be dead, or at least seriously hurt ... Is your girlfriend a healer?" The first thing crosses Lin's mind is how he knew ... How he knew that Kya and her ... The second thing is such a strong desire to put his head inside a hole that she can barely stop the floor of moving below her. Her head is cloudy. Where was Kya? Where did that piece of trash put Kya?

"What? No, I didn't mean for that to happen. I was trying to stop that spirit." Korra put a hand on her chest, genuinely sorry for what happened to Tokuga. She was too good. Lin couldn't feel a drop of remorse.

"Well ... not everyone tried so hard." His eyes stopped on Lin for a moment. "You should have already learned that your actions have consequences." The police chief's eyes narrow as she faces the half spirit boy.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lin feels the metal wires moving on her back, desperately wanting to wrap around that boy's legs again and this time ... This time she would drag him to the darkest cell possible.

"You'll find out soon enough." His smile. His smile made all the hairs on the back of Lin's neck stand up. She raised her arms more firmly, controlling the metal wires, controlling her own impulses.

"You're the one who needs to answer for your actions, not Korra!" Mako was being the cop. And Lin felt her stomach sink a little deeper. She was so angry and ... So afraid she could barely do her own job. "Who sent you to the portal to attack the airbenders? Was it Woyong Keum? Are you stealing all these weapons for him?" Lin could feel every piece of platinum-covered metal moving, there were too many weapons. They couldn't fight it all alone.

"No one owns me anymore. Mr. Keum works for me now." Tokuga replied, not at all intimidated by the flames that were on Mako's good arm.

"Where is he?" Mako's voice is loud and clear. It requires a position. Lin taught him well. Tokuga pulled away, raising his arms in a dramatic gesture when he reached the front line of the mecha tanks.

"Look up, officer." He scoffs. "He's been right over your head this whole time." Lin knows it's not a good idea to look up in the middle of a fight, but her eyes seem to have a will of their own and look up. There's an airship over their heads. There's someone up there, holding ... holding Woyong on the edge. Lin doesn't care about that man, not really, but she already had too much of that boy.

"Release Mr. Keum immediately and surrender yourselves!" She orders, tapping one foot on the ground so that the mecha tanks swing slightly. Tokuga stumbles, but is still smiling when he leans gently on one of the mecha tanks.

"And why would I do that? You're outnumbered and outmatched." He stated simply with a shrug. His eyes are shining with knowledge for Lin. Because she knows he's right.

"You couldn't beat us at the portal and you couldn't kill us with your ploy at the docks. You're not going to win now." Mako's safety was admirable. It was a pity Lin didn't feel the same way and the enemy could already read it on her face.

"Yeah, this is the order of the white tank top and team avatar you're dealing with!" Bolin was smiling as he moved lava between his fingers.

When Tokuga's smile flashed, though ... Lin already knew what was coming next.

Her muscles tensed.

"Isn't the whole team all right? Aren't you missing certain girlfriends?" She and Korra moved forward almost at the same moment. The girl shouted something about Asami, but Lin paid no attention. When Tokuga dodged the girl's whirlpool of air she was there to greet him with a rock big enough to flatten his head. He had Kya. He had the kindest woman in the world as a captive. Her girlfriend. She was going to die before letting her suffer anything. The barriers are gone. She doesn't want to be in control. She wants to crush that kid until he asks for mercy. He had no right to get his hands on her. He just hadn’t.

The fire passed below her. Korra threw flames and she brought the metal blades out. When Tokuga dropped the avatar with a curved sword stroke at her feet, she jumped the girl. She heard Bolin and Mako shout the girl's name and then sounds of energy, the boys' scream. She couldn't see anything, just his face, Kya's face. She would tear him apart. Her teeth were tight enough to break. Her heart felt like it could come out of her chest at any moment. Her eyes burned. Every muscle of hers responded while Tokuga used the tentacle and the sword to try to knock her down. Lin dodged each blow and went further.

Korra got up and it was at that moment the men in the mecha tanks decided they had already played too much. The energy charge hit Lin and she didn't scream. She let the pain go through her, the nervous tic in her cheek trembling as Korra fell beside her. She doesn't know where the strength came from, but she didn't stay on the floor. Her arms lifted her and she stood in front of Tokuga again, arms raised. Korra grabbed her hand and stood up as well. Her eyes shining in the avatar state. Lin could feel her power emanating and the strange calm that came from her body in those moments.

Tokuga just raised his hand to the mecha tanks and the men backed away.

"You guys are going to go back off and let The Triple Threats leave and me." Korra started to glide, the wind around her feet lifting her up into the air. She cracked her knuckles.

"Not a chance." She said and Lin just smiled with pure pride.

"Like the kid said." She completed, the blades on her fists shining with the flames around. Tokuga tilted his head gently to the side and then let out a soft laugh. Laughter that made Lin's fists clench even more.

"You go. Or you can say goodbye to those two over there." They looked up. Only to find a man holding Asami on the edge of the airship, a flame in his hand and another ... Another grabbing Kya's neck, her feet and hands were trapped and she imagined they were heating the air to keep her away from any type of water. She looked ... She looked so small, so tired.

"This is all my fault ..." Lin heard Korra whisper, her eyes returning to normal as Lin returned with the blades into her uniform. No... It wasn't Korra's fault. It was the fault of the one who had to catch the bandit at all costs, who held him while a spirit passed through his body. The one that never backed down. Lin always thought that thinking about others, the safety of others, the value of others was the way out of everything she was doing.

Kya was right again. Sacrificing herself would do nothing in this situation. The chief of police held the air as Tokuga's army descended the deposit hill toward Republic City. She didn't want to let the tears come now, she didn't know if she could stop if she started now.

She failed ... She failed the person who mattered most. Kya.

She was arrogant. She was stupid. And now Kya was in danger because of her.

Her knees gave out at some point. She just wanted to get inside the earth. Bolin grabbed her hand, still a little dizzy from the shock. It's warm and welcoming.

"It's okay, chief. It's not your fault." He whispers as he strokes her hand, gently. His hand is big and holds hers as if he were touching something very delicate. Lin's tears come down, they are hot and quick, just like the blows she tried to hit with her fists. She wants to scream. She wants to take down every shitty thug that's keeping her away from Kya. But she cannot.

"The last thing I said to Kya was that she was a healing hippie and she should let me do my job." Her voice fails and Bolin's eyes stare at her with a mixture of sadness and compassion that makes her tears come down harder. She was an idiot.

She couldn't think if that was the last time she would see Kya. She wouldn't know how to live with that. Her fingers tremble more as each thought passes through her head.

This is Kya's revenge. If that was what she felt every time Lin went around taking a risk ... She didn't know how it would be possible to live with it. With that pressure in her throat, with that feeling of emptiness so huge it threatened to remove any other good feeling she ever had.

"She knows you didn't mean that, chief." Did she really know? Did she know that Lin's bitterness was anger at her own self-loathing and not at her, never at her? Did Kya have any dimension it was only for her Lin was trying to change? Little by little?

Lin closes her eyes. How would she know if she never said it out loud?

She has been alone for a long time. She told herself she was fine living like that and then Kya came. Kya who brought everything back. Kya who made her realize how much better her life was when she was around. How much she made her feel alive. It's as if someone is taking her life with their hands now. She can hardly breathe. She needed Kya. It was ridiculous and painful the way she grew up to need so much of someone's touch and presence.

She would never be able to live like this. She needed to bring Kya back home or she was going to be lost. And this time there would be no turning back.

"Get up, chief." Korra knelt beside her, she had some tears of her own streaming from her eyes. Lin did not want to get up, she did not want to face her own mistakes standing, she wouldn't know if she could do it. She wants to let the earth take her. Nothing would have happened to Kya if she had never been involved with Lin again. "I know exactly what you are feeling, but now is not the time for the two of us to sit and cry." She takes Lin's hands that are surprisingly cold, her fingers still shaking a little. "We will go after them, we will watch them, we will surround them and when we have a breach we will get our girlfriends back. Okay?" She speaks as a true leader.

"I'm proud." The words come out of Lin's mouth before she realises it. "Of all of you." She looks back, Bolin and Mako smile at her and Korra smiles too with a much more determined look.

"You taught us well." The avatar declares, placing a hand on Lin's shoulder, covered by the uniform. "The chief that I know doesn't back down. The chief that I know reconsiders the options and attacks when the enemy is weaker." Korra's words make a small smile spread over Lin's mouth. She has really grown over the years. "Are you going to kick that shit's ass with me?" She extends her right hand and Lin doesn't hesitate for a moment before grabbing with hers to get out of the floor. "This is the chief Beifong that we know." The chief Beifong they knew would always take a chance to save anyone's life.

At that moment she made a silent promise. She was going to do this, just one more time. Just to save Kya. She would stop.

She would not be arrogant anymore. She wouldn't try to embrace the whole world with her own hands and forget about herself. She would try.  
She would not be Orpheus.

For her.

"And the order of the white tank top gets another member." Korra frowns at Bolin's words. Lin puts a hand on her face.

It is the first time she laughs that day.


	4. Drown me please

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I think this is the end.  
> I loved to write this one. Kyalin can be so personal to me.

"Have you ever thought about how much we have in common?" Kya asked, she settled against the warm floor, blowing a lock of hair away from her face. Asami frowned at her and moved closer. Wonyong was sleeping a few steps away from them. "We both have short, muscular girlfriends with a great tendency to get into fights." Asami choked out a laugh and nodded.

"I think you have a point there." It was no use being pessimistic ... It was what Kya said to herself, thinking about the worst wouldn't take them out of that situation. But she ... Even she couldn't keep her shit together with so much going on. The girl beside her tilted her head when she noticed her eyes were getting watery.

"They're going to kill themselves to get to us, aren't they?" Asami holds her lower lip between her teeth and takes an extra second to nod.

"After ... After my dad made a fool of me ..." Kya tilts her head, as best she can with the restrictions of the chains on her feet and hands. "I ... I just can't get other people I care about to protect me. I know it sounds stupid, I love Korra and I know she would never do anything to hurt me ..." The girl takes a deep breath, Kya imagines it's to prevent tears from falling. "Now I really wish I had let her protect me, maybe we weren't ... Here." Kya smiles a little now when Asami's eyes meet her again and the girl frowns.

"It was Korra who asked me to keep an eye on you." She opens and closes her mouth again. A thin tear running down her delicate cheek. She looks genuinely surprised. "Don't blame yourself for having fears ... I can hardly sleep at night sometimes ... Just wondering if Lin is going home or not." The waterbender drops her head when her eyes close. She knows Lin isn't fine. She doesn't need to be there to know. She's blaming herself, she's throwing the weight of the world on her shoulders. As she always does.

"Do you think ... That was how Korra felt?" Kya looks up again and nods, a small smile twisting the corner of her mouth

"Precisely ... It's a little selfish, but sometimes I feel like nothing matters in the world but her coming back to me." She has to swallow hard before looking at the girl again. "I imagine Korra has experienced the same sensation I have every day. Fear. Fear it would be the last time." Asami is biting her lower lip hard enough to break the skin. "Do you want to hear one of my travel stories?" The girl nodded, she sobbed then Kya got close enough so that she could rest her forehead against her shoulder. "So ... I was in the northern water tribe talking to the elders." Asami shakes her head, indicating she is listening. "One of them then turns to me and asks me what I know about love." Kya feels a silly smile go up in her mouth at the memory. "I was 25 years old. I didn't know anything, but I said it was like liking someone enough to let go." Asami looks up at her, and they are glowing green in the muffled darkness. "The elders laughed at me. They really laughed like it was the most stupid thing they've ever heard." She just said that ... Because she still thought about Lin. Even miles away, she still thought about the girl she left behind to date her brother. "They said it was literature and it was ridiculous. Love is about selfishness too. Not letting go. Loving is not being able to let go." Kya wanted to be able to stroke the girl's hair when she felt her shoulder suddenly damp. "They won't stop coming after us." She whispers to the dark deposit and Wonyong's low snores.

"I know they won't." Asami completes and there is a smile on the waterbender's mouth when a few more tears come down. "That's why we love them, right? They never give up." Kya nods, not trusting her own voice to say anything else. She was going to burst into tears again.

It was at that moment they heard the door slam. Kya stood in an upright position in almost the same second. Just like Asami.

Tokuga had just returned.

Lin wasn't sleeping.

It was the first time she took Korra and the boys to her apartment. Korra didn't want to go to the air temple island, didn't want to leave the city and Lin's apartment was the only one with enough space. Bolin asked the question "What is this?" for each painting and sculpture until Mako told him to shut up. She had three rooms so she left Bolin and Mako sharing the one at the end of the corridor and Korra with the one with windows to the park.

Mako was exhausted and convinced his brother to stop exploring the apartment to go to sleep. Korra squeezed her shoulder before going to do the same. They would need the energy of a few hours of sleep for tomorrow.

But Lin wasn't sleeping.

She couldn't stand the thought of going to that huge bed to sleep alone like she did so many times over the years. She sat at the dining table and stared at that tapestry until her head started to create different patterns.

Kya was out there somewhere, surrounded by criminals and Lin couldn't do anything from here. The feeling of helplessness doesn't leave her head alone.  
She would apologize.

It would be the first thing she would do when she saw Kya again. She would beg for her forgiveness. She was right. Lin never cared about herself the way Kya did and she didn't realize it until Kya was gone. She avoided thinking. She avoided thinking while in action. The chief of police always thought that thinking about who you cared about, or even your own security, made you weak, weaker for the enemy. It would be easier for someone to manipulate you if they knew exactly what you cared about, who you cared about.

But it wasn't true. She never felt as strong as the moment Tokuga hinted he had Kya. She felt as if nature itself responded to her, the adrenaline, the anger, the sadness, she was impossible at that moment. Impossible enough to take a shock and get up again.

The excitement of the night is still pumping through her veins, her head kept thinking. She needed to train if she wanted to sleep somewhere in that apartment. That's why she hangs her uniform on the hook in the living room and takes the elevator down to the basement gym. It was 1 am and the place was completely empty, perfect for Lin.

She did 20 punching and 20 kicking sessions to start feeling tired. Sweat running down the back of her neck. Lin hugged the sandbag, pressing her forehead against the warm material. She couldn't think about what happened the last time she was at a gym. Kya's smell. Kya's taste. She came there just to try to sleep, to stop thinking about her. She had to stop thinking about her if she wanted to save her as soon as they got the chance.

Lin raises her arms, the white bands waving in her hands as she moves around the sandbag. She imagines Tokuga. A tentacle arm, a sword in the other hand. She only has her own fists. He's weaker on the side of the sword, so she advances there. One kick in his hand is enough for him to let the sword fall to the ground.

Fight what you have, you little shit. He stretches the tentacle, tries to catch her feet. Lin jumps and moves forward. He took her from you. It's because of him she is afraid. It's because of him she is not in her bed sleeping like a perfect nymph. Lin's fingers tremble in anticipation as she dodges another imaginary blow and hits a punch where Tokuga's jaw would be. He staggers, she takes advantage. The punches come together, a straight in the chest, a hook against the chin. She walks away. No one will ever try to touch Kya again. The sidekick hits the sandbag and the sound echoes throughout the gym when the chains break and it hits the side wall with a thud.The earthbender takes a deep breath. She'll be fine. That's what she says to herself as she walks to get the sandbag and fix it in place. She has to be fine, because she doesn't know what she would do with that kid if she won't.

She stops for a moment...Looking at the sandbad. She did it well. I did it well. It’s what she says to herself, trying to start somewhere.That’s it.

When Lin returns to the apartment, it's after three in the morning. She sits on the couch and lets the darkness cloud her head, just the physical tiredness winning the mental war she wages with herself.

"What are we waiting for? We surround them." The Triple Threats took over the territory of the Creeping Crystals and fires spread throughout the neighborhood. Lin tries not to roll his eyes when Korra's obvious question falls on her ears.

"They don't let anyone out, Korra. If we attack Tokuga will set the whole neighborhood on fire." She crosses her arms under her chest, looking down at the streets, empty. Empty enough to make her shiver.

"And considering he tried to kill us, I doubt he's bluffing." Murmured Mako as Bolin investigated the area with binoculars, looking for any security breaches they could use in their favor.

"So I'm just supposed to sit here and do nothing?" She can feel the frustration coming from Korra in waves. She understands. She feels the itch under her skin every 5 seconds, begging to break every wall in those buildings with earthbending and get to Kya.

"Listen, kid." She approaches to touch Korra's shoulder, her big blue eyes turn to her and look so helpless. She looked like a real leader last night, like the avatar she was born to be. But now, in the face of the frustration of waiting, she seems lost. "I'm sorry for what I said yesterday." Korra opens and closes her mouth and she can feel the boys staring at her back behind her, Bolin is still using binoculars for this. "I'm afraid my temper gets the best of me when they threaten who I care about." She almost said who I love. But it sounded very personal and Lin didn't want to expose herself further. "You are a great avatar, as much as the avatar Aang was." A soft smile breaks Korra's face and Lin smiles. "But ... Kya is down there too, I hate this situation as much as you do." She had no idea how much. "We cannot attack until we are sure that everyone is safe, but I promise you we will get our girls out of there." Korra takes a deep breath and nods.

"Thanks." She looks at the burning buildings for a moment. "Asami and I have been in tough spots before ... But this time feels different." Lin couldn't agree more.  
She's been in worse situations, with an entire army and a giant platinum robot inside Republic City, with a giant Unalaq or even with a sect with Amon's taking the benders from everyone ... Including hers, something that it still gave her some nightmares at night, that horrible emptiness. But this is different. They have someone she loves. They know. Lin can't stand the thought of them using her. It makes her belly sick. Besides ... She was the one who held Tokuga ... Maybe if she hadn't held him ...

She shakes her head. She couldn't let herself go that way again.

Kya would ask when it was the last time Lin ate. Lin believes it was breakfast the day before. She didn't have lunch after the fight with Kya and then ... There was no way she could eat anything. She pulls out the walk talk to speak to one of the officers on the other side of the neighborhood.

There had to be a way to get into that place.

She knew something was wrong when Bolin, Mako and Korra were gone for an entire hour. She took Bolin's binoculars and started searching the area. Not close to mecha tanks, impossible that they were there. Not even close to that real tank. She narrowed her eyes and was about to take her walk talk to ask another officer for information when Mako's own voice came from her walk talk.

"Chief, it's Mako." She pressed the button, frustrated.

"Where are you?" Lin asked trying not to sound so upset.

"I know you said not to waste time on a triad on their last legs, chief." She takes a deep breath, waiting for what will come after that. "But Jargala knows passagesu under the buildings in this neighborhood, we can reach Tokuga without having to go through the blockade." She ponders. Jargala. A wanted criminal. Leader of Creeping Crystals.

"You are not going to do this at all. This woman is dangerous, she may well be dragging you to your death." Mako doesn't respond immediately and Lin is already thinking of sending a search team after them.

"It's for Kya, chief." He knows the words would hit her deeply and that's what happens. Her eyes fill with tears almost in the same second. She promised. Less arrogance. Less Orpheus. "And for Asami too, we can appreciate the complete order of the white tank top." The police chief takes a deep breath. Lin Beifong was going to ally with a criminal. The world was about to end.

"Fine. Where can I find you?"

"Some of these passages are as old as the city itself." Jargala murmured as she lighted the path between the tunnels. Lin knew that. Many of these tunnels were built by earthbenders, her mother mentioned them once. "Everything okay, cheif?" The woman asked with a small smile on her side, her green eyes shining with the crystal light. Lin nodded and the woman smiled more. She didn't understand the reason for the smile at first, so she frowned. "You must be very fond of this Kya to agree to enter ancient tunnels with a triad leader." The chief of police looked sideways at the woman as they advanced into the tunnel. She didn't deign to answer, it was enough for Tokuga to know somehow Kya was her girlfriend. She didn't want another criminal with that information. But apparently, the lack of an answer is as revealing as an answer because Jargala gave her a knowing smile. "This way." She said and they headed into the dark tunnel. They had a focus now and Lin couldn't say how much it relieved her.

10 minutes later Jargala stopped. Looking at a ladder nailed to the wall. "This should take us straight to Tokuga." She pointed to the steps and Lin held her breath for a brief moment.

"And Assami." Murmured Korra and then her eyes fell on Lin. "And Kya." Lin nodded and the girl gave her shoulder a firm squeeze.

"Are you ready TOWTT?" All eyes turned to Bolin and he smiled, shrugging. "It's short for the order of the white tank top, twott."Jargala opened and closed her mouth, as if she considered asking but gave up.

"Okay, ready, twott?" Korra asked and everyone nodded together. Jargala was the first to go up, Korra was right behind her and then Lin. They came out of a warehouse in the building and could hear conversations outside, as well as the noise of machines.

There was no hesitation.

As soon as Jargala opened the door they moved forward. Bolin lavabending, Jargala pinning the mecha tanks to the ground with crystals, Mako sending shots of fire to each henchman who tried to approach.

"Korra!" Lin sent a quake to the ground, causing one of the mecha tanks to fall and then her eyes searched. Asami was on a stepladder, welding something in an airship, but as soon as she saw Korra, she pulled the mask off her face and smiled. Korra didn't hesitate to send a gust of wind at one of the remaining mecha tanks to reach her.

It was then Lin saw her. She was sitting next to Wonyong, arms tied behind her back, legs tied, hair completely messy. Lin's heart raced.  
Kya looked up when she noticed all the confusion and when her eyes found the earthbender, she smiled. And then a muscular man pulled her to his feet. Lin frowned and started running. No. Not again.

A mecha tank appeared before her and she barely saw it when she hit a stone seven times her weight in it, probably damaging the machine beyond use.

Jargala had caught Tokuga with a crystal. But they were boarding Kya. And Asmai and Wonyong. She blinked. And Tokuga popped the crystal with his tentacle arm, jumping away with movements so fast it made Lin's head a little dizzy. She held up another stone. Not again.

"I'd love to stay and finish this ..." Tokuga attached the curved sword to a beam and spun dramatically to reach the airship. "But my ride's leaving." Lin calculated well before throwing the stone. The boy climbed out of the airship window a second before the stone hit him and the police chief cursed out loud.

"We have to follow that airship!" She shouted at Mako and Bolin. Korra was already beside her with the same focus in mind.

"Jargala, come on!" Korra shouted as the woman made no sign she would accompany them.

"I'm not leaving my turf in the hands of these goons. GO!" She screamed over her shoulder and then advanced on the mecha tanks. She might be a criminal, but she had more courage than many kings, Lin thought.

They left the shed and found the parking lot. Korra made an air ball, like Tenzin's kids. Mako and Bolin got on one motorcycle and Lin got on another.

"Let's go to the kyochi bride." Lin accelerated and so did the boys, following Korra's pace.

"How do you know where Tokuga is going?" Lin screamed as the air beat violently against her face, making it difficult to see and speak at the same time.

"I don't know." She added, but didn't change her course. "But I have a hunch he's going back to where this all started." The portal. Lin ground her teeth and accelerated the motorcycle more, the airship going faster and faster.

"This is Tokuga, leader of the triple threat triad and soon-to-be leader of Republic City.” His voice was loud and clear over the airship's communicator. Finally, a reason.

  
Korra doubled over as they passed a street of destroyed buildings. They needed to go fast, as fast as possible. Kya. It was just her ocean eyes on Lin's head now. So scared and then so ecstatic just to see her. She pressed her fingers to the handlebars so they wouldn't shake.

"President Raiko, police chief Beifong and avatar Korra have failed this city." He stayed on the communicator, just a few more meters, just a few more meters. Korra snarled beside her. "The spirit portal stands not as a symbol of hope, but as a hairbinger of destruction. That's why I'm stepping in." They could already see the barriers around the portal in the distance. "I'll make sure this once-great metropolis rises again, and becomes the most dominant power in the world." They turned another street. That boy certainly had no parents to educate him about arrogance. "Starting immediately, the president and the avatar will answer to me!" The portal opening was close at the end of the street. "My first order is for President Raiko to immediately and permanently withdraw the united forces from Republic City." Lin jumped off the motorcycle as soon as she managed to stop it. "Should the president refuse to comply, he should know that I've equipped this airship with poison gas, and I won't hesitate to use it." They entered the portal area where protesters, airbenders and the united forces started to panic, Lin herself began to panic a little. "I've also brought Wonyong Keum, Asami Sato and the daughter of avatar Aang, Kya, onboard. Any acomplied to bring this ship down will result in their deaths." Lin's stomach sank. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

Poison gas. All those people. Kya.

"Is everyone all right?" Korra asked as she ran towards Tenzin. Lin started looking for a way to get up there. She could lift herself with a stone column and then throw the metal wires. But Tokuga could see and release the gas.

"For the moment." Tenzin replied, rubbing his face in frustration. "Thankfully, Raiko's decided to withdraw the united forces." Tenzin's eyes met Lin and they shared the same concern. She could see how his face fell with the information that his sister was up there, in that boy's hands.

"You need to know, Raiko ordered me to bring down the ship. Airplanes are on their way." Lin opened her mouth and closed it again.

"WHAT?" Iroh jumped in place and took a few steps away when Chief Beifong's gaze landed on him with her best murderous expression. They would not take down that airship while Kya was there. Just over her dead body.

"I'd say you have about five minutes to get up there and get them out of harm's way." Korra's eyes went to Lin. She can't think of how her connection to Korra grew in two days for the girl to come to her to look for what to do.

"Let's get Oogi. He can take us up there." The avatar nodded and together they started running towards the flying bison.

"Be careful and ..." Lin stopped halfway when Tenzin touched her shoulder. "Bring my sister back, please." Lin's eyes watered and she just nodded before continuing on her way to enter the bison saddle.

Lin didn't like to fly, like any earthbender, she couldn't feel safe in a place where she couldn't feel the earth. But she couldn't care less. Korra approached the bison as close as possible, the police chief had no idea how anyone was seeing them, but then it became evident when she realized the windows were covered with a thick yellow mist. The poison. No.

"Come on, chief." Korra pulled her by the hand and they jumped on the airship. It was easy for Lin to stand, but Korra slipped and she had to pull the girl by the arm so she wouldn't fall.

"Thanks for the ride, Oogi." She screamed for the bison and then opened the hatch into the airship.

They entered.

"Back off!" It was the first thing Korra shouted before throwing a whirlwind towards Tokuga. Lin coughed with toxic air and Korra gestured to her. Immediately a bubble of fresh air appeared around her head and she could breathe again, as well as think again. Korra caught up with Assami, producing the same bubble for her girlfriend and herself. Lin's eyes started to run across the ship ... Where was Kya? Where was she?

"No, I've seen you drive. Keep Tokuga busy and I'll steer the airship." Assami declared and Tokuga seemed to hear his name as he jumped over the panel to face Lin and Korra.

"Go find Kya and Wonyong. I'll take care of him." Korra shouted towards her as Tokuga smashed the windows with a powerful blow from his tentacle arm. Lin didn't think twice.  
She ran inside the ship, removing the mist as she could, looking for any glimpse of white hair. When she put her feet on the bottom of the airship she felt it. She felt the vibration of two bodies, breathing, she never felt so relieved in her life. She followed the vibrations and found Wonyong first. He was half passed out in a corner, he probably hit his head.

Her heart stopped in her chest when her eyes found Kya. She would have kissed her if she didn't wear a big mask for the poison on her face. But it was her ocean eyes there, staring back at her with the same relief in her iris. Lin quickly metalbended the chains that were holding her and Keum.

Kya said nothing. She just ran to hug the police chief so tightly she stole the little air from Lin's bubble. But she was far from caring, the poison was leaving the broken windows, she just hoped Tenzin would be able to airbender that shit. She tightened her arms around her harder, tears streaming freely as that pressure finally lifted off her head. Spirits, she is here. She is fine. And they need to help Korra.

She supported Wonyong half-awake and then took Kya's hand in hers. Together they ran to the front of the ship again, just after Tokuga hit a nasty blow on Korra, one of those who cut the bending. He was about to hit her again when Asami turned the ship around with all her might. Lin wrapped Wonyong with one of the metal wires. She grabbed Kya by the waist and threw the other metal wire to hang from one of the handrails. Her arms closed around Lin hard enough to hurt.

Tokuga slipped out of the broken window with a curse and when Asami returned the ship to its place, the police chief didn't hesitate, not even for a moment, to metalbender a piece of handrail ready to make him fall the rest of the way.  
However, Keum was faster with an ax.

He ran towards the window and cut off Tokuga's tentacle arm. He screamed before falling.

"Keum enterprises belongs to me, not to you." The man announced.

"Good bye and good riddance." Kya said as she pulled the mask off her face. Lin doesn't remember being so happy to hear her making a joke.

Asami was quick to land the ship. They were inside the portal, in the spirit world. It was a good strategy, here nobody would be contaminated by the poison.

"Are you okay?" It was the first thing Bolin asked when he reached them.

"Yeah, pretty much. But Tokuga's thugs are in rough shape." Asami replied whilew walking down the airship door. Lin went down first to extend his arms and descend Kya. She looked a little pale, probably from not eating in two days too.

"We can heal them, just hang tight until we can find some spirit water." Lin frowned at Kya as she spoke to the men who held her captive. The waterbender just pushed her shoulders. "Don't be like that. Korra and I are going to heal them and then you and the boys can take them to prison." She was unable to contest. Not when thin tears started to flow from her eyes just to see Kya there. Safe and sound. Kya opened her mouth, but her eyes were also wet when she bent to lean her forehead against Lin's. "Hey ... It's okay." Her arms wrapped around the police chief's face and she pressed her lips together to keep from sobbing. Just her touch again. Just her touch was enough to bring her sanity back.

"You were right." She whispered and felt it when Kya frowned against hers. "I always sacrifice myself for everyone and I never wanted to think about it ... until they had you." Her fingers started to shake again, so she grabs Kya's waist. She doesn't care if someone is watching them. She needs to know she is there. "I always thought that someone else's life was worth more than mine." She looks up, Kya's eyes are even more in the tone of the raging, icy seas at the poles now that thin tears are falling from them. "But ... When they had you ... I realized I would give the whole world to have you back and ..." The realization of the words makes her gasp. "This is fucking selfish, but if that's the feeling you get every time I think about doing some stupid shit ... I just get it now. I can't imagine what it must have been like for you ... Heal all those wounds, knowing that maybe someday I might not come home and ... "She stops when Kya's lips touch hers. It's not an intense kiss, it's just a simple encounter of lips, but it makes Lin's tears come down harder. She is real and she is fine. She is here.

"Now you understand me, you idiot." Lin laughs against her mouth. Spirits, that feeling is good.

"I promised myself I won't be Orpheus anymore." Kya's eyes shine again and she can almost see the pride exuding from her for Lin remembering that particular night.

"No more senseless self-sacrifice?" Lin nods and it makes Kya move forward to actually kiss her. Her lips slide over hers and nothing looks as good as that.

"I'm sorry." Lin separates enough to whisper. Well aware that Bolin is looking at them with the most childlike eyes in the world. An apology for more than the guilt she bears for the kidnapping, more than the fight and the harsh words, an apology for each wound Kya had to heal.

"Lin." She is smiling when she rubs her thumbs on her cheeks. "You know I will always heal you." If there was still a barrier around Lin's heart ... It broke at that moment. She really broke Lin to pieces when she looked at her with those eyes like the oceans themselves. She would tear the world apart before letting anything happen to her.

She promises herself something else at that moment. She would love herself. She would love herself. If not for her. For Kya.

It was already a start.

"Haven't you brought enough turmoil to our world, avatar?" The same voice of that night, the one that raised all the hair on the back of Lin's neck. This made the police chief turn around, her wrists raised in the air to face anything, even spirits.

"I promise, we're not here to cause any problem." Korra raised her arms, showing little resistance.

"As long as that portal reamins open, there will be strife between humans and spirits." The spirit argued. Lin paused a moment to think how strange that phrase was before she took Kya's hand in hers.

"It doesn't have to be that way. If we work together, we can find peace." It was the avatar's turn to try to appease.

"How can there be balance when men like him are determined to exploit our world?" The spirit screeched towards Keum and Korra's shoulders fell.

"Maybe the spirits are right ... Keeping the Northern and sourthern portals open was one thing, but maybe this one was never meant to exist." She watched as Asami touched the girl's shoulder.

"No. You can't close it. It's too precious." And Lin was forced to agree. A portal in the middle of the Republic City was no accident.

"Asami's right." Everyone opened their eyes wide and stared at Keum when he turned to the spirit. "What if I abandoned my claim on the land aroun the portal?" Lin raised her eyebrows and Kya pursed her lips, watching where it was all going.

"And why would you do that?" The spirit's voice was still sharp as a knife.

"I owe all these women my life." He looked back and his eyes went from Korra and Asami to Kya and then to Lin. She thought about shrugging, but then nodded. "The last thing I want is to cause death hostility in Republic City. I'd rather do what I can to support the avatar in bringing peace." Well ... That was quite surprising.

"If what you say is true ..." The spirit returned to a natural and much more friendly color. "Then I'm willing to let this matter lie and allow the future to unfold." The spirit started to move away. "But we'll be watching what happens next, avatar.  
And for your sake, I hope this situation improves. Otherwise, you'll be seeing us again soon." With that the spirit was gone, swimming in the air as if it were the most common thing in the world.

Mako came running out of the woods at that moment, panting and Bolin held him.

"Tokuga's gone." He declared. "I searched the area where he fell, but there was no sign of him. And I didn't see him go back through the portal." Lin didn't care. He could die if he wanted to in this spirit world. Let the spirits find him and make pieces of his wicked mind.

"I bet he'll lay low for a while, but I doubt we've seen the last of him." Korra's omen sends a shiver through Lin's spine. But Kya presses her fingers against her hand. Her heart soothes. As long as she is there, everything will be fine.

(...)

Three weeks later ... Zhu Li was elected president of Republic City. It's not like Lin is very surprised. The president's behavior throughout the crisis with Kuvira and with the refugees themselves had practically ruled him out. But the footage of Zhu Li entering the middle of a cloud of poison to save a child while Raiko ran away in his car certainly gave Zhu Li a few thousand more votes. She deserved it and Lin was happy to finally have someone to work with that wasn't as self-centered as Raiko.

Varrick hosted a private dinner to celebrate his wife's election in the apartment building he lived in. Everyone would be there and after so much excitement in the past few weeks, Lin believed it was completely worth going. That's why she now finds herself at a table with Kya, Tenzin, Bumi and Pema. Or as Kya prefers: adults  
\+ Bumi. They are talking, remembering the past, thinking about the future as they drink champagne and eat. Lin finds herself missing her sister and Izumi. The team wasn't complete without both.

But she would lie if she said that she paid close attention to that fact, considering the formal outfit of the water tribe Kya is wearing. It's blue, as always, and as always matches her eyes. The sleeves are long, as is the length that dotted with intricate details and a long white belt with the symbol of the southern water tribe. But there are no pants below that outfit, just long chocolate-colored legs. Very long legs.

She can't take her eyes off her crossed legs.

"Hey aunt L-Lin." Lin frowns and turns her head. The only male nephews she has are far away, in Zaofu. It's Bolin who comes to her, pulling up a chair to sit beside her. He's drunk. If his soft eyes weren't enough evidence, he smelled like alcohol. She's glad he decided to leave the police. "Hello Kya." He nodded to the other woman and the entire table stifled a laugh, just waiting for what was to come. He leaned over Lin to whisper, quite loudly to Kya. "Would you do me the honor of being my aunt?" Lin rolled her eyes and Bumi was laughing loud enough now for the other tables to start paying attention to them. Kya gave a glorious laugh too.

"Bolin, I am not your aunt and you are not proposing to Kya for me." She pushed Bolin into his chair and he crossed his arms, an adorable pouting for a man of his age getting in his face.

"Someone had to, chief. You have been in love for 30 years, no one will judge." She narrowed her eyes at Bumi who was now red from laughing. It was he who gave the boy this extra information, she is sure. He could wait, she would take her revenge later.

"As much as I appreciate the gesture, Bolin." Kya stood up and walked around Lin's chair to place a kiss on the boy's cheek. "I think Lin and I can work this out later." Bolin narrows his eyes and is Kya's cue to extend her hand to the earthbender.

She doesn't hesitate to accept. She would probably never hesitate. She can hear Bumi's subtle words as Kya pulls her through people.

She doesn't want to care. She would go where Kya would go. She follows the swaying of the waterbender's white hair as she guides her down a corridor and then up a set of stairs and then up another set of stairs until she reaches a door. Kya has the key, which makes Lin frown. She planned it.

The door opens and a breath of fresh air drives Lin's hair away from her face ... They are on the roof.

She climbs up, hearing Kya lock the door behind her. There is a blanket from the water tribe spread over the terrace, two glasses, a bottle of champagne and a basket. Lin looks back, complete surprise at her expressions and Kya just smirks, mischievously.

"I borrowed the roof from Zhu Li this morning. I was sure she would win so I knew this dinner would happen." She approaches a few steps, tilting her face to look at Lin. Her eyes are the same shade as the dark sky above them. "She said no one deserved to celebrate more than we did." Lin pursed her lips in agreement and Kya smiled before taking her hand and dragging her onto the blanket. Lin removed her boots and so did the waterbender before they lay down, looking at the sky. The first constellation she sees is Orpheus. No longer her constellation, but still beautiful and shining perfectly in the sky.

She takes a deep breath. The night air is fresh and what comes to her is Kya's perfume, the slightly sweet smell clogs her mind as she hears her heart beat rhythmically beside her. Their fingers are still intertwined so it's easy for Lin to lift her hand up to her mouth to kiss her knuckles. Kya's eyes shine when she turns to look directly into her eyes.

Lin feels like she's 16 again, with an impossible crush on the most beautiful girl she knew. Kya was still the most beautiful girl she knew, it turns out that the crush was not that impossible.

She is so grateful that this woman has appeared again in her life after so long. Even after so many years she is still able to teach Lin kindness, care and self-love in a way no one has ever tried. It's just one of a thousand reasons why she loves Kya so much her chest hurts.

This is the pain she feels every time she looks at her like that. That tightness in the chest that threatens to consume her whenever she faces the depth of those eyes, those feelings. She didn't care if she was selfish. She would throw the whole world into the ocean for her. She could deal with that part of her that loved as deeply as the seawater itself over the horizon.

Kya used her free hand to touch her marked cheek, sliding her finger tips through the imperfection of the scar. Lin murmurs a request to the spirits. Please stop the time.

"Spirits ..." Kya whispered, bending far enough so that her breath mixed with Lin's.

"I love you." The earthbender whispered before she could say and the healer laughed.

"You stole my line." Lin's eyes were getting a little wet as she looked at her like that, so much purity emanating from her, suffocating. She could choke her, she didn't care. "I love you, Lin." She would have cried if the waterbender had not bent over and closed the small distance between their lips. Her kiss was the perfect combination of everything Lin needed. It calmed her mind while racing her heart. She hugged the other woman's back, pulling her towards her, as close as possible until she was effectively lying on top of her. "I wish I could have told you that night." She pulled her face away from Lin's just enough so that she could say those words. "I wanted you to know you were loved." The corner of Lin's mouth trembles, her hands caress Kya's back and she can't imagine a more perfect moment than this.

"I always knew I was, Kya. I just didn't know how to handle that." Kya takes a deep breath and touches her forehead to the police chief's, their breaths perfectly mixed.  
Lin thinks this is it. They can solve anything together.

"Do you know something else I really wanted to do that night?" Lin laughs when Kya's tone changes dramatically. The other woman's eyebrows go up and the earthbender shakes her head. "You always turned me on a lot when you were kicking bad guys' asses." She pondered, fingers sliding slowly from Lin's face to the ends of the tunic that cover her neck. Kya grabs the ends of the collar, pulling Lin to sit at the same time she sits on her lap. The earthbender's breathing changes and Kya's smile says what she doesn't have to say with words.

When she leans down to kiss Lin again, her tongue sliding into her lips, her legs closing around the police chief's hips ... It's like drowning. In her tongue. In her perfume. In her body.

Drown me please. Just...Drown me.

Lin's hands grip her thighs and her lips push against hers in the same intensity.

She wants that starry sky to be a witness to when she drowns in that ocean.

In that ocean that was Kya herself.


End file.
